The impact of the 2008 global financial and economic crisis has even pushed some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations into protectionism by erecting more non-tariff barriers. Non-tariff barriers are common in international trade as long as they are aimed at protecting consumer interests (safety) through better quality standards.

But the blunt reality is that non-tariff barriers within ASEAN trade have been designed to protect domestic industries. Yet more disappointing is that only little progress has been made in the 11 priority sectors targeted for accelerated integration to achieve the ASEAN goal.

We should magnanimously acknowledge that Indonesia is the laggard in the marathon run to the ASEAN Economic Community as our economy, though the largest with more than 230 million of the region’s 550 million population, is among the least efficient and least competitive.

True we still have about five years to gear up for full economic integration that will allow for free flow of goods, services, investments and skilled professionals.

However, five years is not a long time for the process of economic integration, especially for Indonesia, which is facing uphill challenges to strengthen its economic competitiveness due to an acute lack of physical infrastructures such as roads, seaport, power supply as well as poor regulatory and bureaucratic frameworks.    

We can no longer sit back and relax, hoping that things will improve within five years and will be ready for an ASEAN community.

We should instead take a great lesson from our bitter experiences with the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement. We simply forgot our commitment to that agreement after its signing more than five years ago only to painfully find early this year, when the trade pact came into power, that we are not ready for such an open, free trade with China.

Another blunt fact is that not only we can not renegotiate our commitment to an ASEAN common market, but an ASEAN single market is also the best chance for us to woo more foreign investment because investors will have an advantage to establish regional production centers in Indonesia to cover the whole ASEAN region.

Put another way, businesses can use Indonesia as a regional base for production not only for the domestic market but also the region and entire global market.

The problem is that production networks in Indonesia could be competitive only if the country has become a reliable part at least of the regional supply chain because manufacturers now require an efficient supply-chain management to allow for lower storage costs, lean manufacturing and just-in-time delivery.

This requires efficient transport, expedient customs services and harmonious customs procedures to facilitate the smooth transit of goods between ASEAN countries, as well as common production standards.

 There is a mountain of homework facing us now.

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