A single regional common market of Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, countries known as the Asean Economic Community will go into effect in 2015 for its founding members — Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand — and in 2020 for the remaining member states of Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
Under the AEC, there will be free flow of goods, free flow of services, free flow of investment, free flow of capital and free flow of skilled labor among Asean member nations.
While it will provide more business opportunities, the AEC is also set to pose some challenges to Indonesia’s business sectors, in particular to small and medium enterprises, known locally as UMKM and more generally as SMEs.
Now the question is: would Indonesia’s SMEs still be able to survive after the AEC arrives?
