Learning from the ASEAN+1 Model and the ACIA

As the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a new regional integration initiative intended to achieve a modern, comprehensive, high-quality, and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement amongst the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Member States (AMSs) and ASEAN’s free trade agreement (FTA) partners, it important to review similar existing agreements in ASEAN, including ASEAN+1 and the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA). This chapter aims to provide input for RCEP through analysis of the current ASEAN+1 FTA agreements. We discuss the evolution of the agreements on investment in ASEAN, namely the Investment Guarantee Agreement (IGA), the ASEAN Investment Agreement (AIA), and the ACIA; the progress of the ASEAN+1 FTA Agreements on Investments, as well as some characteristics of the ACIA Reservation Lists. Our analysis is expected to become an input for policy on the baseline for RCEP negotiation in the area of investment. In principle, there is equivalence in the goals and norms between agreements, both the general FTA agreements and the more specific investment agreements. Based on its development, it can be assumed that the ACIA is the most comprehensive basis agreement, which underlies other FTA agreements. In the commitments that are more specifically sector related, it can be seen that each AMS has its own unique approach to scheduling its sectors in the agreement frame, although there are some similarities in the substance of reservation lists proposed under the ACIA. Hence, the challenge for the RCEP is to formulate a higher-level agreement, which is able to consolidate a variety of concerns, needs, and national policies of each AMS in a modern, comprehensive, high-quality, and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement.