The Prospective Economic Cooperation between Somalia and Some ASEAN Nations

Abstract

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established to address economic and political issues for the member nations; today the economy remains the centre stage of ASEAN. The group launched its Economic Community platform in 2015. The AEC is a milestone promoting ASEAN economic integration. Somalia is a potential economic hub in the East African region, and the Somali people are vibrant entrepreneurs nicknamed “the Chinese of Africa”. This paper contends that Somalia and ASEAN should enhance their economic collaboration and ASEAN should not neglect or leave this part of the world to the Chinese or western economic exploitation. Given political culture of ASEAN, Somalia can learn from the enormous experiences of ASEAN both in economics and in political stability. The ASEAN region is projected to have the fourth largest gross domestic product (GDP) by 2050, and it continues to perform far better than the world’s average. Somalia already has economic connections with major ASEAN economies including Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. The paper provides practical suggestions for economic collaboration between ASEAN and Somalia. The methodology employed is historical and conceptual to highlight the economic and historical values of both sides. The research problem addressed is that there is a scarcity of literature on the economic relations between Somalia and ASEAN.

Keywords

• ASEAN
• Somalia
• economic
• cooperation