There are many conceptual definitions of "economic integration" and the one chosen for this paper is that economic integration occurs when nationalistic concerns of an economy are set aside to integrate the economy more fully into the world economy.
Such a definition implies and confirms that the world has become so global that individual nations can no longer be allowed to maintain independent economic activities without consideration of the impact of those activities on other nations. This attitude was well expressed by Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra at a recent meeting of the annual East Asia Economic Summit: "East Asia and Southeast Asia must reject the temptation to seek individual salvation, because none of us can survive individually... Regional cooperation and economic integration must go full steam ahead" (Asian unity vital..., 1998, 12). This paper will examine some of the barriers to the possibility of economic integration, and conclude with some suggestions.
The concept of economic integration is an offshoot of mercantilism, a 17th Century economic concept written about by Adam Smith, the economist who proposed that each and every nation developed its currency power as a result of its productivity. It is safe to assume that the ideas of Smith played a major part in the formation, in 1967, of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) a loose confederation of six nations: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand (Hunsberger, 1996, 42).
The group was formed to achieve several goals, some social and some economic. The original charter papers spelled out the following aims of the group:
A. To promote social and cultural understanding between and among all nations that comprise the area known as Southeast Asia;
B. To form a defense bloc that would ensure no encroachment of individual members' territories;
C. To create a body that could solve pro...