Services play a crucial role in the ASEAN region’s economy, contributing close to half of its GDP. In 2019, the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Services, in collaboration with the OECD, commenced work to improve existing measurement of services trade regulations through developing the Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) for ASEAN Member States (AMS) in four priority sectors: logistics services, telecommunications services, construction and computer services.
The outcomes of the exercise demonstrate that trade in these services remain subject to divergent regulations across AMS, with highest levels of restrictiveness identified in telecommunications services while computer services are the most liberal for trade on average.
