International Business in ASEAN Countries: A Detailed Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of international business within the ASEAN country block. It begins with an overview of the economic structure and major exports of ASEAN nations, highlighting key players like Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia, and their significant trade with countries like the United States. The report then examines ASEAN's position in global business, emphasizing its role as a manufacturing and trade hub and a rapidly growing consumer market. It explores the potential for business growth and development within ASEAN, emphasizing the need for innovative strategies and technological advancements. The report also addresses future challenges, such as disposable incomes, infrastructure limitations, and aging populations. Finally, it offers suggestions for maintaining business competitiveness and enhancing economic wellbeing, focusing on intra-ASEAN trade and adapting to the evolving global landscape. The report is a detailed study of the international business environment in the ASEAN region.

Running head: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS IN ASEAN COUNTRIES
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS IN ASEAN COUNTRIES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The following report shed light on the impact of the ASEAN on the international business
factors. The report opened with the discussion on the economic structure and major exports of
the ASEAN country block. The report thereafter discussed the position of the ASEAN country
block in global business followed by highlights on the potential of the ASEAN country block for
business growth and development in the international markets. The report thereafter threw light
on the future challenges that might be faced by the ASEAN country block in international
business as well as suggested measures that would be useful in the facing the challenges.

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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
Economic Structure and major exports............................................................................3
Position in Global Business.............................................................................................8
Potential for business growth and development..............................................................9
Future challenges faced in international business.........................................................10
Suggestions for maintaining business competitiveness and enhancing economic
wellbeing....................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................13
References..........................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or the ASEAN, refers to the regional
intergovernmental organization that is active within Southeastern region of the Asian continent.
The governmental body was established in the year 1967 and was chartered in the year 2008
(Asean.org, 2019). The association comprises of ten nations located in Southeast Asia and aims
at the promotion of the intergovernmental cooperation that has been taking place within the area.
The major areas that are highlighted by the concerned organization refer to the areas related to
the education, militia endeavors, political factors, economic factors as well as the
implementation of the integration in the sociocultural factors that are presented within the
member countries of ASEAN (Asean.org, 2019). The following report sheds light on the impact
of the ASEAN on the factors that are related to the international business factors. The report
opens with the discussion on the economic structure and major exports of the ASEAN country
block. The report thereafter discusses the position of the ASEAN country block in global
business followed by a discussion on the potential of the ASEAN country block for business
growth and development in the international markets. The report thereafter sheds light on the
future challenges that might be faced by the ASEAN country block in international business as
well as provides the suggestions that would be useful in the facing the challenges.
Economic Structure and major exports
The economic structure that is faced by the ASEAN countries is composed of a
combination of the economic zones that are presented within the area. The economic zones that
are highlighted within the given area refers to the economic conditions that are followed within
the participant countries of the committee. The ASEAN countries are further observed to have
been dealing in the overall development of the free trade within the area. The free trade within

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the ASEAN countries would promote the overall growth within the area in terms of the business
capital, skilled labor, the several services that are offered by the concerned organizations as well
as the products that are manufactured by the companies as well. The ASEAN Framework
Agreement on Trade in Services had been adopted in the ASEAN Bangkok Summit that was
held in the month of December in 1995 (Ec.europa.eu, 2019). The agreement had stated that the
liberalization of the trade agreements would involve several levels of negotiation among the
member states in order to lead to a proper increase in the overall development of the commitment
levels within the committee (Asean.org, 2019). The committee had also highlighted the fact that
after 2015, people from eight specified professions would be allowed to work freely across the
ASEAN countries.
Fig. 1: U.S. Goods Trade with ASEAN (in billions of dollars)
Source: (Ustr.gov, 2019)

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Fig. 2: U.S. Agricultural Trade with ASEAN (in billions of dollars)
Source: (Ustr.gov, 2019)

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Fig.3: U.S. Manufacturing Trade with ASEAN (in billions of dollars)
Source: (Ustr.gov, 2019)

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Fig.4: U.S. Services Trade with ASEAN (in billions of dollars)
Source: (Ustr.gov, 2019)
The ASEAN countries tend to demonstrate a high amount of exports to the various
countries that are present within the international markets. The major exporters of the ASEAN
country block refer to the countries of Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia.
The countries have been arranged according to the economic value of the products that they have
been exporting to the various countries including the United States of America. The goods that
have been exported to the United States of America alone amount to over 185.8 billion dollars in
the year 2018 and contributed to almost 7.3% of the total imports that were undertaken by the
United States of America (Ustr.gov, 2019). The major exports of the ASEAN country block
include apparel, footwear, tropical oil, rubber and other products allied to it, unroasted coffee,
nuts, machinery and other various types of processed vegetables and fruits. The ASEAN country

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block is also known for the trading of the various services that are extended by the various
organizations. The extension of these services is often observed to be helpful in the import
countries. These services are observed to have helped in the earning the revenue of around 22.4
billion dollars in the year 2017 from the markets of United States of America alone (Ustr.gov,
2019).
Position in Global Business
The ASEAN country block is often considered to be one of the most productive and vast
global hubs that deal in the matters that are related to the manufacturing and the trade that have
been taking place in the area. The ASEAN country block is often observed to be one of the major
consumer markets within the global economy that is considered to be one of the fastest growing
consumer markets within the world. The economic profile of the ASEAN country block is
observed to be on the rise with the deepening of the international business ties with the various
economic hubs active within the global markets (Wijeratne, 2018). The high rise within the
global markets is further observed due to the tendency of the ASEAN country block to captivate
a greater amount of the global market share in the matters that are related to the exports and the
imports that are undertaken by the concerned organization. The committee is known to have
been comprising of the major part of the economy of the Southeast Asian countries. This makes
it one of the most flourishing economies that have been present within the global markets.
The given concern is also known to have been encouraging free trade within the
participating members of the committee. This in turn leads to the increase in the overall
development of the countries involved as well. The implementation of the free trades within the
given association helps in the proper understanding of the various issues that are highlighted as
targets in the given trade areas. This helped in the overall development of the goals that have

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been set by the AEC Blueprint and in turn assisted the establishment of the ASEAN Economic
Community (Heidari, Katircioğlu & Saeidpour, 2015). The promotion of the free trade within the
ASEAN country block had helped in the overall economic growth that was observed within the
given countries that are a part of the ASEAN country block. This in turn had helped in the
promotion of the products and the services that are originated in the countries that have been a
part of the ASEAN country block. The implementation of the free trade had led to the
achievement of the set targets within a very short period of time thereby increasing the position
of the ASEAN country block in the global markets.
Potential for business growth and development
The business organizations as well as the various industries that have been a part of the
ASEAN country block are observed to have a greater potential for the growth as well as the
proper development in the international markets. In order to facilitate the overall growth in the
ASEAN country block, the concerned governmental bodies of the participating countries as well
as the secretariat of the ASEAN country block would require the proper support and the backing
from the concerned business communities that are active within the area. The business
organizations that are active within the given area are advised to deal in the promotion and the
implementation of the innovative strategies along with the various new agendas that are
formulated in order to enhance the chances of growth within the economy as well as put forth
measures that would help in achieving the same (Zhu et al., 2016). The ASEAN country block
might find an increment in the overall development of the economic conditions with the
implementation of the localization in terms of the production of the concerned products and the
services that are generally sought after in the international markets. The organizations that have
been enlisted within the ASEAN country block might also include the development of the

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various local hubs that would help in the enhancement of the production and the generation of
the services that are marketed by the industries that are a part of the ASEAN country block
(Azam et al., 2015). The major areas that are highlighted for the potential for the overall growth
within the ASEAN country block refer to the areas that are dedicated to the development in the
technological factors, the implementation of the technical as well as the technological support in
terms of the transport of the various products that are marketed by the concerns active within the
ASEAN country block (Jones, 2016). The proper communication within the ASEAN country
block as well as the end users of the products might further lead to the growth in the given
sectors thereby leading to the enhancement in the matters that are related to the overall
development of the business growthy in the areas that are included within the ASEAN country
block (Borhan, Ahmed & Hitam, 2018). This would further affect the cross-sector events within
the area thereby leading to the conditions that are related to the overall development within the
competitive nature of the concerned organization in meeting the demands of the clientele of the
organization.
Future challenges faced in international business
The companies that are included within the ASEAN country block might face a number
of challenges in the international markets in the future days to come. One of the major areas that
might pose to be a challenge in the future years refer to the challenges of the disposable incomes
as well as the short-term employments as have been highlighted within the concepts of the fourth
industrial revolution (Kobayashi et al., 2017). The majority of the issues that might be
highlighted in this regard find a cause in the various business and the governmental endeavors
that are observed within the ASEAN country block (Tan & Tang, 2016). The high
overdependence of the trade partners in terms of the issues that are highlighted in the business

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environment lead to the stagnation of the growth in the productivity within the given business
organization. The other issues that might pose to be a serious challenge to the economic growth
of the ASEAN country block refer to the lack of the proper infrastructure within the area as well
as the ageing population within the area.
The major challenges that are faced by the concerned organization refer to those that are
faced in terms of the issues that are highlighted within the lack of the intra-ASEAN trade
opportunities that are presented within the given area. The continued growth of the ASEAN
country block might be hampered due to the ageing population in the high-income markets that
are presented within the given territorial boundaries of the countries that are included in the
ASEAN country block (Brueckner et al., 2018). This is highly observed in the areas that are
included within the territorial boundaries of Singapore. The country in discussion has been
facing issues in the economy due to the central basis of the economy of the country on the trades.
The country further faces issues due to the lack of the presence of centralized digital hubs that
would help in the overall development of the economy if the given country (Kawai & Naknoi,
2017). The centralized digital hubs are majorly observed to be helpful in the development of the
supply chains that are used by the concerned organizations that are active within the Singaporean
markets (Nasir et al., 2019). The mid-income markets that are present within the countries of
Malaysia and Thailand also face issues due to the ageing population within the area. The ageing
population present within the Vietnamese territories also pose a threat to the economy of the
country as well as that of the ASEAN country block at large.
Suggestions for maintaining business competitiveness and enhancing economic wellbeing
The secretariat of the ASEAN country block as well as the various governing bodies of
the participating countries are advised to put forth various measures that would be helpful in the