Sanchita Basu Das on the ASEAN Economic Community

It is "highly unlikely", writes Sanchita Bas Das, the ASEAN Studies Centre's lead researcher on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), "that ASEAN can achieve its target of building an AEC by 2015."

She substantiates that claim by working her way through the achievements and challenges of the four "pillars" of the AEC.

But nil desperandum. A foundation has been laid, and though time presses, "ASEAN economic integration efforts will not be derailed easily".

She concludes with some eminently sensible advice on the way forward:

"One way for ASEAN is to focus on 'core' elements of integration and implement them earnestly in the shortest possible time. This may include trade liberalisation, services liberalisation (at least the tourism sector), and measures to enhance connectivity, transparency and predictability in the region. The rest of the process, as envisaged in the AEC Blueprint, can follow beyond 2015."