Page 65 - ASEAN-EU Dialogue 2018: Regional and Inter-Regional Economic Cooperation: Identifying Priorities for ASEAN and the EU

These regulatory barriers add on to the burden of skilled professionals who are seeking
employment in other AMS so that instead of mutual recognition, “double recognition” have
been used to describe the dual process that have emerged in ASEAN (Mendoza and Sugiyarto,
2017). The first recognition process refers to the ASEAN process while the second refers to
the national process. Given these regulatory burdens, it is not surprising that actual mobility is
limited.

Table 11.2: Number of ASEAN Countries with Additional Requirements, by Occupation

Requirements Medical Dental Nursing
Practice limited to specialists 3 0 0
Local language requirements 5 2 6
English language requirements 1 3 5
Degree must be earned from a 4 0 0
recognised or accredited
institution
Minimum years of study 0 7 4
Must pass national licensure 2 5 7
exam
Source: Mendoza and Sugiyarto (2017)

Non-Regulatory Barriers
Institutional challenges have been raised as one of the key barriers for the successful
implementation of the MRAs in ASEAN (Mendoza and Sugiyarto, 2017). Resource constraints
remain an issue as implementation of MRAs. This includes both financial as well as non-
financial resources such as human resources as governments need to provide resources for
training, certifications and other due processes for the MRAs. Developing countries in ASEAN
that face fiscal constraints are hard pressed to put in the necessary resources for the
implementation of many of the ASEAN initiatives, including the MRAs (Tham and Basu-Das,
2015). This is especially pertinent when domestic consensus is lacking in the first place. Since
there are several stakeholders involved, implementing the MRAs also require coordination
efforts among the different government agencies that are involved. But bureaucratic
bottlenecks and turf mentalities as well as inter-ministry rivalries may obstruct coordination
efforts. The less developed AMS may face additional problems as they may not have the
necessary regulatory authorities or even legislations and laws in place to govern their own
professionals, much less at a cross-border level. For example, The Council of Engineers in
Thailand, only covers seven engineering disciplines: chemical, civil, electrical, environmental,
industrial, mechanical, and mining and not others (Mendoza and Sugiyarto, 2017).

The second non-regulatory barrier pertains to demand side variables such as the demand to
work in ASEAN and the demand to hire ASEAN professionals as the initiatives focus on
supply-side issues. There is no comprehensive data to indicate that ASEAN professionals are
interested to work in other AMS (Papademetriou et. al., 2015) since socio-cultural, economic
and language differences continue to divide the region that has yet to develop a strong regional
identity and consciousness as can be seen in the EU. The development gap in terms of wages,
exchange rates and living conditions may also deter mobility as professional workers seek a
better life for themselves and their families when they venture abroad to work. Thus, the focus
of professional migrant workers is on the overall living environment, including schooling for
their children. There is therefore a tendency for the professionals from developing countries to
seek employment in developed countries rather than another developing country.

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