ASEAN Community 2015: Managing Integration for Better Jobs and Shared Prosperity

This joint study of the Asian Development Bank and the International Labour Organization examines the impact of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) on labor. It highlights the challenges and opportunities that will accompany the AEC, including managing labor migration, boosting productivity and wages, and improving job quality. The report offers policy recommendations for creating better jobs and ensuring that the benefits of the AEC are equitably shared among different countries and sectors. The AEC will create a single market and production base and new opportunities for prosperity for the region's 600 million women and men. This will have implications for job gains and losses, skills development, wages and productivity, labor migration, social protection systems, and building connectivity. However, unless managed properly, the AEC may not translate into benefits for everyone and could increase existing inequalities. To realize the full potential of the AEC to deliver more and better jobs, decisive action is necessary, including better management of structural change, ensuring that economic gains lead to shared prosperity, while strengthening regional cooperation and tripartite dialogue. Ultimately, the success of ASEAN regional integration will depend on how it affects the labor market - and therefore how it improves the quality of life of women and men in the region.