ASEAN's New Frontiers: Integrating the Newest Members into theASEANEconomic Community

Since V ietnam, L ao People's Democratic Republic ( PDR ), M yanmar, and C ambodia joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) in the 1990s, concerns have been raised over a D evelopment D ivide. The real division is between ASEAN members participating in the integrated E ast A sian economy and those that do not. The older ASEAN members have become more efficient traders, and Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam must reform faster if they are to catch up. C ambodia, L ao PDR , and M yanmar are not meeting the challenge, but V ietnam may be leaving the laggards, and the P hilippines is lagging the leaders. The challenge is how to avoid a two‐tier ASEAN with fast‐growing modern economies coexisting besides inward‐looking poor countries.