This study examines potential investment opportunities for cross-border value chains in the economic corridors of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).

It offers an investment perspective that is grounded on extensive interviews with company representatives and public sector officials. Qualitative and quantitative-based surveys were conducted over a six-week period by the study team that interviewed 70 companies distributed over 20 industry classifications or divisions in six BIMP-EAGA corridor states and provinces. The surveys were carried out through one-on-one interviews with company representatives and the results were used to rate not only investment opportunities in different industries, but also soft and hard infrastructural conditions that affect the investment climate.

This study examines the investment climate impacting on decisions to invest in the economic corridors of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). The key factors identified by businesses as impacting on their investment decisions in BIMP-EAGA’s corridors are complementarities in cross-border production activities and services, investment incentives, hard and soft infrastructure, the regulatory environment, governance, and other issues affecting cross-border investments.

The objective of this study is to provide a preliminary analysis on a range of CET options that could be adopted by ASEAN and to quantitatively assess their implications for each ASEAN member state and the region as a whole. The results of the study are intended to assist the ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN member states in considering options under deliberations by the CCCA, which will eventually be presented to the Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) for its deliberation on the application of a CET as a long term objective of economic integration in ASEAN.

We compare the welfare effects of ASEAN FTAs relative to pre-CET and post-CET rates. While the static effects are unlikely to be large since, in the end, the final trade-weighted average tariff is the same, the dynamic effects could be significant and give rise to questions about revenue compensations prior to joining new FTAs. The welfare effects of the two sequencing paths can vary considerably. Implementation of a customs union and an FTA can also move forward simultaneously since the implementation of a customs union may be phased and FTA negotiations initiated during that time. In those cases, the existence of customs union commitments by the ASEAN member states can be considered as preceding the FTA, even though the customs union commitments are not fully implemented.

Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) sub-regional trade agreement growth area strategy on trade, agro-business, transport and trade to identify leading sectors and industries to promote exports and investment-oriented activities in specific geographic regions of each country, including analysis of growth markets with and outside region

WTO trade capacity building in joint WTO/ADB conference and Asia's current trade issues using detailed econometric trade model to measure welfare impact of tariff reduction strategies

In Brunei-Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines - East Asean Growth Area. Vol. II. Manila: Asian Development Bank, 1997.

Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Sub-regional trade agreement growth area strategy to promote exports and investment-oriented activities in specific geographic regions of each country, covering trade, finance, agro-industry, logistics and transport facilitation in the context of five designated economic corridors

Quantitative assessment of effects of WTO on non-traditional agricultural exports using econometric trade model to measure welfare impact of alternative strategies.