Developing ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) into a Global Service Hub

The services sector plays a critical role in the economy as it makes available to other productive sectors an environment to be more efficient by providing inputs in their production and distribution activities. However, in a globalized setting, a more efficient services sector does not only serve domestic industries but the global market as well. The expansion of global trade in recent years has seen a phenomenal rise in trade in services due to the prominence of the services as an economic sector, the rapid developments in information and communication technology, intense competition among global players, and the liberalization measures brought about by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS). The aim of transforming the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) into a global services hub is not only to further expand trade in services and reap the opportunities in global and regional trade in services but ultimately to be one of the useful avenues that will link the economies in the region in realizing the goal of regional integration and eventually the formation of an economic community. The healthcare and medical services, and the creative services were chosen in this study not only because of their potentials for income, employment and foreign exchange earnings generation but more importantly in contributing to regional integration.