1. Initiatives on Monitoring ASEAN Integration and the ASEAN Community Progress Monitoring System (ACPMS)
Brief background:
1997 – ASEAN Heads of Statistical Offices Meeting – set the stage for the regional cooperation in statistics by endorsing the formulation of an ASEAN Plan of Action in Statistics and recommending the establishment of a statistics unit at the ASEAN Secretariat (2000). Back then, given the limited scope of regional cooperation, a modest statistics unit was sufficient to assist AHSOM .
2001 – the goal to harmonise statistics among AMSs began with the adoption of the ASEAN Framework of Cooperation in Statistics (AFCS) along with the Plan of Action on Statistics (with the following thrusts: ASEAN in
2004 – this was the first time ASEAN statistics was included in the action plan of ASEAN, the Vientiane Action Program
2006 – AHSOM started reporting to the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting through the Senior Economic Officials Meeting
Dr Melanie Milo
ASEAN Integration Monitoring Office
ASEAN Secretariat
High-Level Seminar on ACSS Strategic Plan
Bogor, Indonesia, June 2014

2. The Mandate Blueprints:
ASEC shall monitor and review the implementation of the Blueprints
ASEC shall develop and adopt indicators and systems to monitor and assess the progress of implementation
Mid-term review to be undertaken when necessary

3. ASEC Monitoring Tools AEC ASCC AEC Scorecard Output
Cross Sector
AEC Scorecard
AISR
AEC
AIMR
AEC High-Impact indicators
ASR
ASCC Scorecard
ASCC Blueprint Implementation Monitoring System
ASCC
Sectoral level outcomes
Goal / Impact
Intermediate Outcome
Immediate Outcome
Output
Activity
Input
Compliance/ Implementation Monitoring system
General Outcome
Result/ Out-come -based Monitoring system A C P M S
MDG
AFIR
AIS
ATSR

4. Who is monitoring the AEC Blueprint?
AIMO
Input, Activity, and Output level: AEC Scorecard
Outcome and Impact: AEC High Impact Indicators
Outcome: Monitoring and Surveillance Report
ASEANstats
ERIA
Studies to Further Improve the AEC Scorecard (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014)
Focused on key areas
Questionnaires and surveys

5. Key Mandate of AIMO
Establishment of ASEAN Integration Monitoring Office (AIMO) in 2010 by the ASEAN Finance Ministers
Key mandate: strengthen regional economic surveillance and monitoring of the AEC to support the integration process
AIMO also serves as the policy support unit of the AEC Department within ASEC, with support from the Statistical Division (ASEANstats)

6. How does AIMO monitor the AEC?
Monitor the compliance of AEC commitments through the AEC Scorecard
ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

7. How does AIMO monitor the AEC?
Development of monitoring reports and technical papers on various initiatives under the AEC

8. How does AIMO monitor the AEC?
Development of monitoring tools/indicators and databases on regional economic integration (e.g., AEC high-impact indicators)

9. How does ASEANStats monitor the AEC?
ASEAN Community Statistical System (ACSS)
ASEAN Community Progress Monitoring System (ACPMS) and ASEAN Brief
Reports the General Outcomes of ASEAN integration initiatives, both under the AEC and ASCC
ACPMS 2007 and ASEAN Brief 2007 – first issue
ACPMS 2012 and ASEAN Brief 2012 – second issue

10. How does ASEANStats monitor the AEC?
Started with the ASEAN Base Line Report (ABR) in 2005
Monitor the programme and initiatives under the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP)
Measuring progress at programme level
More than 300 indicators were introduced and base lines were setup
Difficulty in synthesizing the overall integration progress

11. How does ASEANStats monitor the AEC?
ACPMS 2007, first issue
Received support and commitment from the then AHSOM (ACSS)
Published and disseminated to the public at the ASEAN Summit in Singapore, 2009
Different focus
Reports the general outcomes of integration
Mostly outcome indicators
46 indicators: 21 AEC indicators and 26 ASCC indicators

12. How does ASEANStats monitor the AEC?
ACPMS 2012, second issue
Published and disseminated to the public through a press release in 4 AMSs and ASEC
Broader framework
Enhanced the Framework
57 indicators: 29 AEC indicators and 28 ASCC indicators

13. Framework: Monitoring the AEC
Free flow of goods
Free flow of services
Free flow of investment
Freer flow of capital
Free flow of skilled labour
Single market and production base
Competitive economic region
Equitable economic development
Integration into the global economy
Income convergence; Productivity convergence; Intra-ASEAN tourism; Price convergence; Intra-ASEAN trade in goods; Tariff reduction; Trade facilitation; Intra-ASEAN trade in services; Services trade liberalization; Intra-ASEAN FDI; Corporate tax rate; Convergence in financial returns; Convergence in skilled labour wages.
Global competitiveness index; Technological capacity (science and tech graduates, R&D expenditures, researchers per population, telephone subscribers); Science & technical publications; Innovation (patent and trademark applications); Technological capability (high tech exports)
ASEAN6:CLMV ratios of income per capita, intra-ASEAN trade, and intra-ASEAN FDI, Cost of business start up.
Extra-ASEAN trade in goods, extra-ASEAN inward FDI, extra-ASEAN tourism arrivals

14. Framework: Monitoring ASCC
Education
Human resource and entrepreneurship
Human development
Poverty
Income distribution
Health
Social welfare and protection
Social justice and rights
Ensuring environmental sustainability
Building ASEAN Identity
Narrowing the development gap
HDI, education, literacy, school enrolment.
Poverty, income inequality, life expectancy, child mortality, underweight children, government expenditure on health, incidence of diseases .
Female employment-to-population ratio, youth employment-to-population ratio
Carbon emission, CFC consumption, transboundary haze, extent of protected area and forest cover, access to improved drinking and sanitary facility.
(not available)
ASEAN6:CLMV gaps in income distribution, life expectancy, child mortality, literacy, school enrolment, educational attainment.

15. Example of ACPMS Indicators and the Rationale
Single Market and Production Base
AEC 5.3: Intra-industry trade
As economies become more integrated the value of intra-industry trade index would increase
AEC 7: Cost to export and import one container of goods (from World Bank’s Doing Business)
One important measure of facilitating the establishment of a single market is through trade facilitation. Trade facilitation should lead to a lower cost of exporting and importing goods

16. Example of ACPMS Indicators and the Rationale
Single Market and Production Base
AEC 12: Convergence in interest rates
Real interest rates represent the real price of capital. As the capital markets of AMSs become more integrated, financial capital will flow more freely, and will be reflected in the tendency for the real interest rates to become more equal over time.
AEC 14: Convergence in government bond yields
With more integrated capital markets, there will be a tendency of a co-movement in AMSs government bond yields.

17. Way forward
AIMO is working towards developing a unified outcomes-based regional integration monitoring mechanism.
A brainstorming workshop was funded by the EU-ARISE on improving the current regional monitoring integration system last week.
Combination of international experts on regional integration monitoring mechanisms and the desk officers.
Other ongoing TAs
Anchor the preparation of the ASEAN Integration Report; accompanying volume to the ACPMS
Important to effectively communicate the AEC in the lead-up to 2015
A critical element of the AEC post-2015 agenda in order to inform and guide the process towards deepening regional economic integration in the next 10 years (AEC 2025)

18. Data Requirements
With clear framework and rationale, data needs can be specifically defined:
Choice of indices/targets/indicators
Quantitative measures have to be specified in terms of key features, characteristics and data requirements
Data sources: not limited to primary sources (data that are already available in ASEAN Secretariat and collected from NSOs); include secondary sources (from multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, IMF, UNCTAD, OECD)

19. THANK YOU