Tuesday, May 6, 2014

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is due to take effect on 31 December 2015. When the AEC takes effect, member countries have pledged to remove tariffs on intra-ASEAN trade goods and eliminate non-tariff barriers.

Given the importance of AEC to our membership, and taking into account that ASEAN headquarters is based in Jakarta, and that Indonesia has, and will, continue to play a driving role in AEC, AmCham Indonesia is pleased to announce the creation of The AmCham ASEAN Committee
The new ASEAN Committee will be chaired by Shanti Shamdasani, AmCham Governor and Regional Director - Government Affairs South East Asia (ASEAN), Johnson & Johnson Indonesia. She is also the Vice Chairman to the International Trade Policy Committee at KADIN (Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and Advisor to ASEAN Outreach.

The role of AmCham's ASEAN Committee will be to assist interested member companies to:

a) better understand the mechanics of AEC opportunities and challenges;

b) create platforms and opportunities for members to connect with key stakeholders in the various AEC sectors; and,

c) provide input to key Indonesian government stakeholders in the development of best regulations, standards and practices

In carrying out its work, AmCham's ASEAN Committee will work closely with the US Embassy and other regional, global, national, international and Indonesian stakeholders organizations in Jakarta and abroad.
A few of the key issues the committee plans to address include:

i. Free flow of goods - Zero tariff or non-tariff barriers, single window, licensing, harmonization and standards and price positioning

ii. Free flow of services - Legal status of cross border services, information flow, mutual recognition agreement

iii. Free flow of investments and capital- impact of private investments on public sectors, manpower legal framework, consequences of consolidations, foreign vs local ownerships.

iv. Free flow of skilled labor (including mutual recognition agreement) - impact of south to North manpower flow, harmonization of standards, MRA does not lead to free flow of skilled labor, policy barriers.