The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should “learn from the mistakes” of the crisis-stricken European Union as finance ministers agree to go ahead with the plan to integrate the region’s economy by 2015, the World Bank says.

Visiting World Bank managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who is also Indonesia’s former finance minister, said the plan was still relevant in spite of the troubles the EU grouping is facing right now.

Debt-battling Greece may leave the union while other heavily indebted members like Portugal, Italy, Iceland and Spain may strain the other member states’ finances.

“Inconsistency in macroeconomic policy and fiscal management must be avoided,” she told reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Investor Summit (AFMIS) at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday.

There are concerns that the 1...