The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Possibilities and limits of regional industrial cooperation

This study is an attempt to discover the main reasons for the failure of ASEAN industrial cooperation. It is hoped that the discovery of the underlying causes of the failure will suggest ways towards a more effective industrial cooperation between the ASEAN countries.; The study is based on the premise that the ASEAN countries, like any other countries in the world, look at regional cooperation exclusively in terms of promotion of national self-interest. They join the association not to benefit the region but to benefit themselves.; The hypotheses are that the ASEAN countries talk more about than take concrete actions on industrial cooperation; that other groupings of developing countries have also failed in their attempts at industrial cooperation; that the main reasons are the reluctance of countries to shed sovereignty and the internal pressures for national import substitution. Further, national import substitution has not worked as a strategy to accelerate industrial development.; Historical analysis of regional cooperation in Southeast Asia and of the establishment of ASEAN and an analysis of the internal and external obstacles faced by the ASEAN countries in trying to develop their industrial base are undertaken.; The findings are that the ASEAN countries lack a common interest as a precondition for an effective cooperation in industrial development; that their main problem is how to use the tool of industrial cooperation to increase their welfare.; The conclusion is that it is best for any ASEAN country to work bilaterally with another member in one or two industrial projects as a first step towards ASEAN industrial cooperation in the long-term.