OECD supports Southeast Asian economies at the regional level with analytical research as well as through longstanding engagements with regional organisations, such as ASEAN and APEC (see more here). OECD research in ASEAN has taken the form of stocktaking regulatory practices in the region as well as providing policy guidance. The OECD also works with its member countries and other states to produce more general guidance and principles for effective regulatory policy, which are of both national and regional relevance in South East Asia.

See below for more detail of our published work as well as OECD best practice principles and reports of regional relevance.

 

Regulatory reform in ASEAN

ASEAN continues to work to develop and mainstream good regulatory practices at the regional level. Regulatory reform is a cross-cutting theme for ASEAN economic integration and regulatory coherence, as well as for individual ASEAN member state’s structural and rule of law reforms. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025 (see here), which provides broad directions for the AEC through 2015-2025, recognises the importance of “Effective, Efficient, Coherent and Responsive Regulations and Good Regulatory Practice” in achieving “a Competitive, Innovative and Dynamic ASEAN”. Most recently, the ASEAN Good Regulatory Practice (GRP) Core Principles (read here) were adopted in 2018 to serve as a guide to mainstream GRP into ASEAN work, assist ASEAN member states in improving their regulatory practice and foster ASEAN-wide regulatory cooperation. This builds upon previous efforts described in the figure below.

See for more information, OECD (2018) Good Regulatory Practices to Support Small and Medium Enterprises in Southeast Asia.

 

Published works

Supporting Regulatory Reform in Southeast Asia (2022) brings together fact-based country profiles for all 10 ASEAN Member States on their current efforts on implementing better regulation reforms, along with analysis of the major trends, common challenges and future priorities for regulatory reforms noted in these profiles. This publication is based on data collected from members of the ASEAN-OECD Good Regulatory Practices Network.
Regulatory Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Southeast Asia (2021) is a policy brief on the OECD Digital Hub for COVID-19 that analyses how Southeast Asian (SEA) countries approached the challenges and opportunities for regulating during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as shares lessons learned and practices between the SEA and OECD communities to support pandemic recovery.
Good Regulatory Practices to Support Small and Medium Enterprises in Southeast Asia (2018) is the first comprehensive stocktaking of the use of GRPs to support SMEs and their integration into global value chains.
Business Regulation Pillars: Good Regulatory Practices for ASEAN (2017) provides policy directions for developing modern business registration systems and principles.
APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist on Regulatory Reform (2005) highlights key issues to consider in the development and implementation of regulatory policy, based on APEC and OECD accumulated knowledge. The checklist was utilised in practice producing The APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist for Regulatory Reform: Results of Self Assessments, 2006-2007, in Five Economies (read here).

Best Practice Principles and reports

OECD Best Practice Principles for Regulatory Policy: Reviewing the Stock of Regulation acts as a practical instrument to better design and operationalise ex post evaluation systems
OECD Best Practice Principles for Regulatory Policy: One-Stop Shops for Citizens and Business (2020) provides real-world insights into the difficulties in designing and operating one‑stop shops across a range of OECD member countries.
OECD Best Practice Principles for Regulatory Policy: Regulatory Impact Assessment (2020) gives a summary of key elements that every good RIA framework should contain.
OECD Regulatory Enforcement and Inspections Toolkit (2018) offers a simple tool for assessing an inspection and enforcement system. This toolkit is based on the 2014 OECD Best Practice Principles for Regulatory Policy: Regulatory Enforcement and Inspections (read here) which describes how to design policies to promote effective compliance – and the process of reforming inspection services to achieve this.
OECD Best Practice Principles for Regulatory Policy: The Governance of Regulators (2014) provides guidance on the institutional arrangements for regulators to operate most effectively.
International Regulatory Co-operation: The Role of International Organisations in Fostering Better Rules of Globalisation (2016) assesses the practices of 50 international organisations on their governance arrangements, operational modalities, use of quality management disciplines and co-operation efforts.

For more information, please contact Mike Pfister and James Drummond, OECD Regulatory Policy Division.