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Values and Limitations of the ASEAN Agreement on the Movement of Natural Persons

Author

Listed:
  • Yoshifumi FUKUNAGA

    (Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia)

  • Hikari ISHIDO

    (Faculty of Law, Politics and Economics, Chiba University)

Abstract

ASEAN Economic Ministers signed the Agreement on the Movement of Natural Persons (MNP) in 2012. This is a new instrument potentially facilitating the free flow of goods, services, investment, and skilled labour, thus contributing to the establishment of an ASEAN single market and production base. The objective of this paper is to assess the benefits and limitations of this new instrument. The MNP Agreement is an independent Mode 4 services agreement. Actual commitments cover business visitors (seven ASEAN Member States, or AMSs), intra-corporate transferees (all the AMSs), and contractual services suppliers (three AMSs). In general, the commitments add value to predated agreements (namely, AFAS 8 and AANZFTA) for many AMSs in terms of wider sectoral coverage and/or new categories of commitment. However, the commitments vary widely across countries regarding sectoral coverage, committed categories of MNP, and lengths of initial periods of stay. A stand-alone MNP Agreement may result in Mode 4 commitments inconsistent with Mode 3 commitments. Furthermore, the current agreement does not cover non-services sectors at all.

Suggested Citation

  • Yoshifumi FUKUNAGA & Hikari ISHIDO, 2015. "Values and Limitations of the ASEAN Agreement on the Movement of Natural Persons," Working Papers DP-2015-20, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    • Handle: RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2015-20
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hikari Ishido & Yoshifumi Fukunaga, 2012. "Liberalization of Trade in Services: Toward a Harmonized ASEAN++ FTA," Working Papers PB-2012-02, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
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    Cited by:

    1. Elms, Deborah, 2020. "Impact of the ASEAN Economic Community and implications for Latin America," Documentos de Proyectos 46513, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ASEAN; movement of natural persons; AANZFTA; AFAS; GATS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions

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