Business and Development: Empirical Evidence from Southeast Asia

Phuong Hai Chau HOANG

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Encountering significant challenges from the middle-income trap, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) formed ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) envisioning its integration into a competitive global market. Of several solutions, the ASEAN Economic Blueprint 2025, as the name suggested, established a road map to actualize ASEAN's potential. The recent trend of shifting focus to optimal business and economic reform, with a new dynamic brought by a very fast-paced digital transformation in the region and a group of upper-middle-income consumers, has become a new source of hope for ASEAN. Through this transformation, the region expects more business owners to enter the market with fewer barriers. As people start building their entrepreneurship, the region also expects an upward economic growth trajectory. However, the question remains as to how we realize said future. How do we act as a springboard for business owners, the tech-savvy young generation, and a group of wealthy consumers that demand more services? Answering this question, this study tests the relationship between the current business environment and economic development to establish an initial foundation for ASEAN's direction toward business environment reform.

Abstract:

Encountering significant challenges from the middle-income trap, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) formed ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) envisioning its integration into a competitive global market. Of several solutions, the ASEAN Economic Blueprint 2025, as the name suggested, established a road map to actualize ASEAN's potential. The recent trend of shifting focus to optimal business and economic reform, with a new dynamic brought by a very fast-paced digital transformation in the region and a group of upper-middle-income consumers, has become a new source of hope for ASEAN. Through this transformation, the region expects more business owners to enter the market with fewer barriers. As people start building their entrepreneurship, the region also expects an upward economic growth trajectory. However, the question remains as to how we realize said future. How do we act as a springboard for business owners, the tech-savvy young generation, and a group of wealthy consumers that demand more services? Answering this question, this study tests the relationship between the current business environment and economic development to establish an initial foundation for ASEAN's direction toward business environment reform.

Keywords

business, growth, development, digital transformation

Language used: Czech

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 30. 6. 2023

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Maria Anna Leone

Palacký University Olomouc

Faculty of Science

Master programme / field:
Global Development Policy / Global Development Policy