CHAIRING Asean this year, Malaysia expects to push the Asean Community agenda to fruition by the end of the year; a community ” some 600-million strong ” better integrated economically, politically and socially to emerge in 2050 as the worlds fourth largest economy. Aseans labour force is the worlds third largest. The member states anticipated combined gross domestic product is US$4 trillion (RM14 trillion) by 2020. Together, these factors make the target achievable. And, a key driver of this growth in the region is Southeast Asias relatively young and increasingly affluent population. However, the geopolitics affecting the Far East, that of Chinas growing global prominence and Washingtons refusal to accept the fact, puts Southeast Asia in a difficult position. Its a tricky tightrope for Asean to negotiate, as aligning itself to either one of these nuclear superpowers may prove costly for the region. More so, as within Asean itself, bilateral relations between member nations and the superpowers are not uniform.
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