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In 2008, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a political and economic organization of 10 countries in Southeast Asia, agreed to fast-track the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), to be completed by the end of 2015. This agreement represents an historic milestone for the ASEAN region. Echoing, in some ways, the aims that led to the founding of the European Common Market in the 1950s, the ASEAN seeks to transform Southeast Asia into a single market and production base, characterized by the free movement of goods, services, and skilled labor.

In pursuit of this ambitious goal, ASEAN Member States have signed Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) to facilitate the movement of professionals in seven key occupations (accountancy, architecture, dentistry, engineering, medicine, nursing, and tourism; see Table 1), as well as a Framework Arrangement on Mutual Recognition in surveying. Yet, there is mounting evidence that professionals in these occupations across the ASEAN region are often unable to practice abroad because their qualifications, experience, and knowledge are not readily recognized in the destination country. If fully implemented, the MRAs would directly support the AEC goal of facilitating skill mobility by easing the often-onerous requirement that foreign professionals requalify in the destination country.

Table 1: ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangements

ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement	Date of Signing
Engineering Services	9 December 2005
Nursing Services	8 December 2006
Architectural Services	19 November 2007
Dental Practitioners	26 February 2009
Medical Practitioners	26 February 2009
Tourism Professionals	9 November 2012
Accountancy Services	13 november 2014

MRAs are not easy to operationalize, however. Despite progress in some key areas, barriers at the national and regional level persist. This report aims to illustrate how MRAs are currently functioning at the national and regional levels by exploring the experiences with implementation by ASEAN Member States.

Specifically, the report will address the following three sets of questions:

Progress in implementation. How far have the MRAs progressed toward full implementation? Have the national and regional offices and bodies tasked with implementing the MRAs been set up, and if so, are they functioning well? To what extent have the terms of the arrangements been incorporated or transposed into national laws and regulations and, even more importantly, into processes and mechanisms that professionals can utilize?

Challenges to full implementation. Why have MRAs not been fully implemented? Where substantial barriers remain, what technical and institutional reasons might explain them? And how do these barriers vary by country and by occupation?

Opportunities for cooperation. How can ASEAN Member States cooperate to fully address the challenges that hinder the recognition of professional qualifications and, in doing so, facilitate their mobility? What reforms to MRAs themselves, or to related policy areas, would help ensure that employers and governments alike can make the best of the skills ASEAN professionals have to offer, and thus support the AEC goal of broader economic integration?

In exploring these issues, Migration Policy Institute (MPI) researchers working in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) consulted nearly 400 regional and international experts on mutual recognition and professional mobility. MPI and ADB convened 12 days of focus group discussions and meetings between May–September 2015 attended by more than 100 MRA stakeholders and experts, including a former Secretary-General of ASEAN, the Chair of the ASEAN Business Council, and officials from key ministries in MRA development across the ASEAN region.

ADB and MPI also administered a qualitative survey to examine the specific context of MRA implementation, including evolving bottlenecks to completion of the arrangements. Between August 2015 and February 2016, MPI, working with local researchers in the 10 ASEAN Member States, received responses from 311 individuals from relevant government ministries, the private sector, professional associations, educational institutions, and the human resources field. Appendixes 2 and 3 list the affiliations of all stakeholders who attended the convenings and completed the MRA implementation survey.

The report begins by discussing the objectives of the MRAs, and the expectations regional stakeholders have about the benefits these arrangements ought to bring professionals, Member States, and the ASEAN region as a whole. Sections II, III, and IV explore the institutional frameworks envisioned by the MRAs, as well as how the arrangements works in practice. Particular attention is paid to the progress made at national and regional levels, and to the remaining technical and institutional challenges. Section V identifies critical barriers that go beyond issues of mutual recognition, but that affect the ability and willingness of professionals to move within the region. The report concludes by outlining opportunities for cooperation among ASEAN Member States and other key regional stakeholders.