The Readiness of MSMEs in Facing ASEAN Economic Community 2015

From a worldwide perspective, it has been recognized that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) play a vital role in economic development, as they have been the primary sources of job/employment creation and output growth. Even now it is generally believed that sustainable and inclusive economic development in developing regions (i.e. Asia, Africa and Latin America) depends to a large extent on the vibrant private sector, in particular MSMEs. This book is about MSMEs in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), providing most recent evidence on development and performance of the enterprises in individual member states (i.e. Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Kambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brunei Darussalam). Historically, MSMEs have always been the main players in domestic economic activities in the region. In all member states, the enterprises made up more than 90 percent of all enterprises, total employment, and even in some member states the enterprises contributed more than 50 per cent to their gross domestic products (GDP). Currently, one important issue regarding the development of MSMEs, not only in ASEAN but also in other developing regions in the world, is about the long run prospect of their existence or development in the course of increasing pressures of world trade liberalisation and economic globalisation. This book tries to answer the key question that currently is still under both academic and public debates, namely can MSMEs, especially micro enterprises, survive in the long-run in course of increasing competition pressures in both domestic and regional/international markets? The question is particular important for MSMEs in ASEAN as it is going to implement fully liberalisation in trade and investment in 2015, known as ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. Despite the fact that the above mentioned issue is increasingly important, unfortunately, not so many books have been published so far that touches this particular issue. Therefore, this book is to fill this gap.