Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 04/2014

ASEAN-Canada Forum and Public Symposium 2013: Reflections on an Inclusive and Equitable ASEAN Community in 2015

August 2013

S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies

Abstract

The ASEAN-Canada Research Partnership was launched in 2012 by the Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University and the Institute of Asian Research of the University of British Columbia (UBC) with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada. The Research Partnership aims to facilitate cooperation in research among Canadian and Southeast Asian scholars and institutions on regional development issues using a Track Two approach. The first ASEAN-Canada Forum and Public Symposium, themed ‘Reflections on an Inclusive and Equitable ASEAN Community in 2015’, was held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in August 2013. The Forum and the accompanying Public Symposium served as the capstone to the work done by Senior and Junior Fellows under the first phase of the ASEAN-Canada Research Partnership. The meeting focused on inequality, which can be an unintended result of greater regional integration and strong economic growth, and explored alternative means of enhancing regional economic development. Several major issues that emerged from the discussions are outlined in this report.