This year marks the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN. Just over a year ago, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) was officially launched, setting up the creation of a single market and production base with the intention of fostering a competitive and equitable region fully integrated to the global economy. This is one of the key departures of the AEC from the European model. Rather than ultimately keeping trade within the region, the AEC seeks to promote intraregional trade primarily to enhance the competitiveness of the region as a nexus of global value chains.

Globalization is both the fundamental cause and the primary objective of the AEC. This is why ASEAN welcomes multiple dialogue partners, and why it is not beholden to a single major trade partner. The success of ASEAN integration lies on continuing to maximize the gains of international trade and finance while ensuring that the rapid development that the region has been known for remains inclusive.

Opening up markets to foreign investment and competition exposes vulnerabilities and displaces less productive resources. But because these displaced resources include ordinary people who suddenly find themselves out of work and unable to thrive in a new, unfamiliar environment, the transition can be painfully upsetting. And this is why there has been so much backlash. We suffered a lot here in Asia when globalization hit us, but now, we have accepted the challenge, and have responded quite well—albeit to varying degrees of success. Some of our major trading partners, like the U.S. and U.K. are finally feeling the hurt as their own vulnerabilities have been exposed. Hopefully, they will endure the growing pains, and learn and adapt as we did. Otherwise, all the work that has been done toward ASEAN economic integration would be undermined.