If we talk about the economy in Asia, investors might only think about China because of its growth. Other than China, there are a lot of countries on that continent that are already stepping up, and ASEAN is one of the country associations that can be considered.
ASEAN stands for Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and it has 11 countries as members. The members are Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei Darussalam, and Timor Leste. Â
 There are some reasons why ASEAN can be considered as a country association who will advance in the future:
Increasing of Population
ASEAN has 647.7 population and is equivalent to the fifth largest economy in 2018. Some people might think that increasing the population is not a good thing for the country's development. But a great population will bring a rich resource of labor and consumer market. Labor can be used in its country or can be transferred to another country that is needed. ASEAN can be also called a great consumer market by high demand.
Unique Economics Resources Advantages
Countries in ASEAN have different levels of development. You can find frontier markets like Vietnam to the sophisticated products in a development market like Singapore. Each country has their own resource that is mutually sustainable.
Has Great Number of SMEs
SMEs have a contribution to the productivity growth of ASEAN countries. With a great number of SMEs in ASEAN, it will strengthen productivity and competitiveness in each country that will lead ASEAN on its business success.
Has Goal to Compete with International Exchanges
There are six members of ASEAN that have collaborated on integrating their stock exchange. They are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand. The goal is to compete with international exchange by including 70% of its transaction values.
Post-pandemic Economy Recovery
COVID-19 became a bad influence on all fields including the economy in the world, especially ASEAN. Â But right now, ASEAN economies are poised for robust recovery. Receding daily COVID-19 cases, rollout of vaccines, increased spending by governments along with easing of monetary restrictions help revive of ASEAN economies in 2021, and also in the future (Maria Ii Agista)
