ASEAN CENTRALITY AND THE REVITALISATION OF REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY

In a world of increasingly interconnected economies, the shift toward deeper regional cooperation has become a defining feature of modern trade relations. One of the most significant manifestations of this trend is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an agreement that encompasses key players in the Asia- Pacific region, including China and the ten ASEAN countries. This book is a collaboration between Nanyang Centre for Public Administration (NCPA), Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) and Lien Ying Chow Legacy Fellowship (LYCLF), explores the evolution of this collaboration, with a particular focus on ASEAN centrality, its impact on global value chains and the broader economic landscape. This book is divided into three themes: Regional Integration and Connectivity of ASEAN, Building of the ASEAN Community through ASEAN-China Economic Cooperation, and Exporting Member States' Role in Regional Integration and Development, written with the goal of offering a thorough analysis of RCEP's role in reshaping the dynamics of trade and commerce in the region. It presents an in-depth look at how this partnership impacts the global value chain and offers fresh insights for academics, business leaders, and policy makers alike.

Professor Hong Liu is the Tan Lark Sye Chair Professor of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where he also serves as the University's Associate Vice President (International Engagement) and Director (Research and Executive Education) of the Nanyang Centre for Public Administration. He was previously Chair of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at NTU and the Founding Director of the Centre for Chinese Studies at the University of Manchester. Professor Liu's main areas of research include the international political economy, Asian governance, Sino-Southeast Asian interactions, global talent management, and Chinese international migration. Professor Liu has published more than 25 books in English and Chinese as well as over 100 articles including in leading international journals such as the World Politics, Journal of Asian Studies, The China Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, Journal of Ethnic and Migration, and Ethnic and Racial Studies. His recent publications include Research Handbook on the Belt and Road Initiative (co-editor, 2021); Changing Dynamics and Mechanisms of Maritime Asia in Comparative Perspective (co-editor, 2021); The Political Economy of Regionalism, Trade, and Infrastructure (co-editor, 2022), and The Political Economy of Transnational Governance: China and Southeast Asia in the 21st Century (2022); Good Governance in the Post COVID-19 World — Global Health and Economic Recovery (co-editor, 2023).

Celia Lee is a Senior Research Fellow at the Nanyang Centre for Public Administration (NCPA) in NTU. Prior to becoming a researcher, she was with the Singapore public sector for more than 10 years. She has published extensively in the fields of talent management; public administration, specialising in the areas of whole-of-government collaboration, policy experimentation, policy transfer and innovation in the public sector. Her book on Talent Strategies and Leadership Development: Insights from Southeast Asia was published in 2021 and her latest publication Good Governance in A Post Covid-19 World: Global Health and Economic Recovery is an edited volume with Prof Liu Hong and Mr Jeremy Goh, prepared in collaboration with the International Institute of Administrative Sciences. She also teaches BRI: An Applied Learning Approach and Innovation in the Public Sector for the Master programmes in NCPA.

Jeremy Goh is a PhD candidate in the Department of History, University of Warwick, United Kingdom. He is also Social Science Research Council Graduate Research Fellow in Singapore. Jeremy was previously a Research Associate at the Nanyang Centre for Public Administration in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His interdisciplinary interests lie in business and financial history, Chinese overseas, Capitalism, Transnationalism, as well as Southeast Asia's past and present. His present doctorate project examines the development of financial capitalism from the perspective of ethnic Chinese banks in colonial Southeast Asia. This project is supported and funded by the University of Warwick, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Tan Kah Kee Foundation, and Singapore Social Science Research Council. His research has been published in leading academic journals including Asia Pacific Business Review, Global Policy, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, and Southeast Asian Studies. He is also the co-editor of Good Governance in A Post Covid-19 World: Global Health and Economic Recovery with Professor Hong Liu and Dr Celia Lee.