Jakarta. There is nothing wrong with trade competition between ASEAN member states but the bloc has to make sure that all countries have equal chance of succeeding, according to Lili Yan Ing, the secretary-general of the International Economic Association.

The regional grouping sees its 10 members exporting the same commodities. For instance, Indonesia and Malaysia are the world’s largest producers of palm oil. The two close neighbors account for over 80 percent of the total global palm oil production. Indonesia and Thailand are also the leading rubber producing countries. Amidst these competitions, it is important to foster a fair competition between all member states.

“Competitions encourage us to innovate and produce better, lower-priced products. Competition is good as long as there is a level playing field,” Lili said during a discussion at the 2024 BNI Investor Daily Summit in Jakarta on Wednesday.

ASEAN has been pursuing regional economic integration by securing free trade agreements (FTAs). This includes the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) -- the world’s largest trade pact by the members’ gross domestic product (GDP) -- of which all 10 ASEAN members are part of.

The other five RCEP members are ASEAN’s external trading partners, namely China, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand. According to Ing, the economic integration brought by the FTAs can pave the way for equal opportunities among ASEAN's businesses.

“FTAs, investment agreements, and other economic cooperations are key in ensuring how we can have a level playing field [in these competitions]. So all businesses are in a fair competition, can have good market access, and lower cost of capital. That is the essence of ASEAN,” Lili said.

The senior economist also pushed ASEAN to become a regional production hub that grants free movement of goods and skilled labor among member states.

ASEAN posted $3.8 trillion trade in goods throughout 2022, about 22.3 percent of which took place within the region. The remaining 77.7 percent trade in goods were ASEAN’s interactions with its external partners, data showed.