Uncovering Key ASEAN Needs Vital to US Economic Legitimacy in ASEAN. Recommendations For Robust US-ASEAN Relations

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Chapter 2: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [...]: The Untapped Potential of ASEAN as a Global Economic Force:
Long hidden behind the shadows of India and China, ASEAN's growing strategic relevance in the global economic arena can no longer be dismissed. The region boasts a combined GDP of $1.9 trillion, exceeding that of India; a population of 600 million people, which amounts to almost twice that of the US; and an average per-capita income mirroring China's.
The region will rank as the fifth largest in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms (Exhibit 1), and is one of the fastest growing developing economic regions globally, with growth rates far outstripping that of the Middle East and Latin America (Exhibit 2). And if India is touted to be a global economic giant, ASEAN's GDP growth rate has already outperformed India's (Exhibit 3).
ASEAN would also be the region most dependent on trade, with a trade-to-GDP ratio exceeding 150 percent, outperforming that of many other regions. And despite the Asian Financial Crisis, middle-income countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand have averaged a remarkable 7 percent annual growth rate since 2000. Also notwithstanding the 2008 global financial crisis, the entire sub-region bounced back brilliantly to soar beyond the 8 percent growth rate mark. This therefore highlighted a region that is resilient to global economic shocks, with the ability to adapt wisely through rapid policy adjustments.
Another avenue that might have piqued US interest on ASEAN lies in the region's strategic geographic location (Exhibit 4). The Malacca Straits is the world's second busiest shipping channel after the English Channel, and the second most popular oil tanker route, after the Straits of Hormuz. The Melacca Straits is the passage to more than half of the world's merchant fleet capacity annually, and disruptions in the straits would be catastrophic to global trade and US regional interest.
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Dr. Tan Kwan Hong is professor for finance, economics, business, leadership and human resource management. Besides, he is lecturer, academic writer and corporate trainer, and has given talks on leadership, entrepreneurship, management skills, communication skills, persuasion, career management skills and personal peak performance.
He first graduated from the Singapore Management University with the Bachelor of Science (Economics) (With Distinction). Afterwards, he accomplished three Masters degrees, in particular, the Master of Science (Finance) (With Distinction) from Grenoble Ecole de Management, the Master of Science (Human Resource) (With Distinction) from Edinburgh Napier University, and the Master of Education (With High Distinction) from Monash University. He is also a Doctor of Philosophy.
To supplement his knowledge, he obtained three graduate diplomas, such as the Specialist Diploma in Business Analytics (With Merit) from Temasek Polytechnic, the Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (With High Distinction) and the Graduate Diploma in Training and Development (With High Distinction), both from Aventis School of Management in Singapore. He scored in the top grade category for all Masters and Graduate Diploma programs and was top student for several of these programs.
As an avid learner, Hong obtained more than 150 different certifications in business analytics, finance, human resource, project management and sports science. He is a Certified Business Analytics Specialist (CBAS), a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) and a Distinguished Toastmasters (DTM).
As a national science champion in his youth, he received several scholarships, academic and university awards, national awards, public speaking awards and has a national-level strategy case competition championship title. He also represented his country in regional conferences on academic and policy issues.
Dr. Tan Kwan Hong's corporate experience includes strategy consulting,