Singapore and ASEAN in the new regional division of labour

Abstract

This paper examines the implications of international fragmentation of production for trade patterns of Singapore and the other ASEAN economies, with emphasis on their regional and global economic integration. The analysis reveals that the degree of dependence of these countries on this new global division of labor is much larger compared to the other countries of East Asia, Europe and North America. China has emerged as an important trading partner for ASEAN within regional production networks. Network-related trade in parts and components has certainly strengthened economic interdependence among ASEAN countries and between ASEAN, China and the other major economies in East Asia, but this has not lessened the dependence of growth dynamism of these countries on the global economy. The operation of the regional cross-border production networks depends inexorably on trade in final goods with North America and the European Union.