Edmund Sim

15 posts
I am a U.S. international trade lawyer at the Singapore office of Appleton Luff and adjunct associate professor of law at National University of Singapore. There, I teach the first course developed on the law and policy of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). I have also advised the ASEAN Secretariat in an EU-funded assistance project on the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), and represented companies in dealing with the ASEAN Industrial Cooperation (AICO) scheme, Common External Preferential Tariff (CEPT) program and other ASEAN economic integration
Asean summit flags

Helping Myanmar – Burma Participate in the AEC

Many observers have become excited by recent moves by the Myanmar (aka Burma) government. The release of some political prisoners gives hope that the regime is genuine in its efforts to move beyond its junta past.
Phuket airport

Trade in Services May Present Greater Challenges to the AEC

Last week, several articles brought attention to the role of services in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Two reports from Thailand indicated that Thai IT companies looked forward to the AEC, while Thai tourism companies demanded additional protection from AEC-led liberalization.
asean haze

Combatting ASEAN Haze Requires Both Words and Actions

Last week the ASEAN environment ministers met in Bangkok to discuss, among other things, the haze (air pollution) that has become an annual blight on the region.
asean 10 countries

The AEC Needs “More ASEAN”, Not Less

At the Singapore Global Dialogue, two of ASEAN’s eminent persons spoke on the relative strengths and weaknesses of ASEAN as an institution. Both sets of analyses perhaps are correct, but not with regard to the ASEAN Economic Community.
ASEAN members summit

Can ASEAN Become a Premier League?

Is ASEAN a developing supranational entity, like the EU? Or is it only a loose grouping? ASEAN is definitely not a proto-state, but it has progressed beyond an informal grouping, thanks to the recent introduction of the ASEAN Charter.
Asean EU

Haze and Euro Show Limits of, and Needs for, Regionalism

Air pollution, after all, deters many foreign investors from setting up in major cities in China. The haze is the most visible sign of the limits of ASEAN regionalism

ASEAN Needs a Comprehensive Strategic Export Control Policy

Export controls remain a ticklish issue which is handled at the national level in ASEAN. Singapore and Malaysia have enacted comprehensive strategic export control laws, and Thailand has indicated that it would like do so as well one day