With many of its member nations still unable to recover from the impact of the region-wide financial crisis of the late 1990s, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations must "reinvent" itself so it can play a significant role in the regionalism that is emerging in East Asia, a think tank expert from Singapore told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
"Even now, more than five years after the financial crisis began in 1997, there are continuing uncertainties in Southeast Asia," said Simon S.C. Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. "Instead of a recovery, things seem to have gotten worse."
Tay and two other scholars from the SIIA discussed ASEAN's future during the symposium -- "Growing Chinese Economic Presence: How Will ASEAN Meet the Challenges?" -- organized by the Keizai Koho Center at Keidanren Kaikan.