AS ASEAN opens its 51st year, leaders face a major question: How to maintain the growth and rising standards of living enjoyed in Asean's first 50 years. In those first 50 years, Asean became the world's fifth largest economy based on strong fundamentals: regional peace, the world's third largest workforce and globally competitive wages. Those strengths attracted investment and fostered job creation. However, fundamental changes in the paradigm of global competitiveness and the nature of work are afoot. The advantage of low labour costs is being eroded by technological advances such as machine learning, 3D printing, big data analytics, and connectivity between humans and machines. There are Chinese clothing manufacturers opening factories manned by robots (and some human supervisors) in Arkansas - much closer to US markets than competitors in Asean. Automation is not limited to manufacturing - Amazon and Alibaba have launched cashier-free stores. About four of every five Wall Street firms have already implemented, or plan to use, some form of artificial intelligence (AI), and some law firms are automating client name checking and document drafting.

For Asean to realise its vision of shared prosperity, it needs to boost its innovative industries. It needs to get "E-FIT" - improving its education, finance, infrastructure and technology - and transform its workforce into the world's third largest "thinkforce".

EDUCATION