ASEAN: opportunities and challenges

Participating in the inaugural ASEAN Insurance Summit in October, I was struck by both the enormous opportunities and the formidable challenges awaiting the formalisation of the ASEAN Economic Community in late 2015. This market of 10 Southeast Asian nations boasts more than 625 million people, and a combined gross domestic product of approximately $2.5 trillion, growing at more than 5 percent per annum. It is a potentially formidable global economic powerhouse indeed.