OVERVIEW

The liberalization of the services market across ASEAN countries is one of the main objectives of 2015 ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).[1] The opening of services markets is in part based on the view that modern economies rely on the rapid and efficient delivery of services to function and facilitate the development of other sectors of the economy. In this context, “liberalization” means as an initiative by a national government to relax substantial barriers for the delivery of foreign services by creating equal treatment of domestic and foreign service providers.

The liberalization of trade in services under the AEC is covered under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (“AFAS”) that sets out the basic principles and rules.[2] A number of rounds of negotiations were organized under the AFAS to increase the commitment of ASEAN members to the liberalization of trade in services.