## ASEAN’s Time

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [ASEAN’s Time](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2026/09/picture-this-aseans-time-andrew-stanley)

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- [Markdown version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2026/09/picture-this-aseans-time-andrew-stanley/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2026/09/picture-this-aseans-time-andrew-stanley/index.json)
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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: ANDREW STANLEY
- Published: September 1, 2026

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### Overview
- The 11 ASEAN economies now form a $4.5 trillion bloc, home to about 700 million people and growing at over 4.5 percent annually.
- ASEAN has become a major destination for manufacturing as firms hedge reliance on China; carmakers, chipmakers, and electronics firms are expanding in the region.
- Foreign investment reached $244 billion in 2025, climbing 10 percent, and manufacturing investment jumped by nearly 50 percent.
- Despite openness, ASEAN trades surprisingly little with itself: only about 22 percent of ASEAN exports goes to its own members.

### Trade patterns and vulnerabilities
- Intra-regional trade intensity: about 22 percent of ASEAN exports go to ASEAN members, versus 61 percent intra-EU.
- Two highly open economies, Singapore and Vietnam, trade enormously with the world but relatively little with their ASEAN neighbors.
- The bulk of cross-border trade within ASEAN consists of intermediate goods (parts and components) that feed export-oriented factories.
- Consequence: ASEAN has built a shared production line but not a shared market, leaving prosperity dependent on outside demand and exposed when external demand weakens.

### Economic impact and opportunity
- IMF estimates indicate that dismantling the region’s nontariff barriers could raise ASEAN’s output by 4.3 percent over the long run.
- The 4.3 percent output gain is characterized as equivalent to adding over a third of Malaysia’s economy.
- A deeper home market could provide an additional avenue for growth and resilience as external trade flows become less certain.

### Policy implications and focus areas
- Reducing nontariff barriers across ASEAN to deepen the regional market and boost output.
- Leveraging recent investment inflows—$244 billion in 2025, with manufacturing investment up nearly 50 percent—to strengthen intra-regional supply chains and final-goods trade.
- Diversifying demand sources by expanding regional market integration to reduce exposure to external demand shocks.
- Mobilizing regional policy coordination (context: finance ministers gathering in Bangkok) to design measures that build a deeper ASEAN home market.

*Source: F&D Magazine article "ASEAN’s Time" by Andrew Stanley, September 2026.*

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## Content in this bundle

- **Asean’S Time**
  - [Asean’S Time (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2026/09/pt.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [Asean’S Time (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2026/09/pt.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2026/09/picture-this-aseans-time-andrew-stanley_