HONG KONG -- Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations had bold plans to unveil a new economic community by the end of this year, a vast, integrated 10-country market stretching from Hanoi in the north to Jakarta in the south, comprising more than 600 million people and boasting a combined gross domestic product of $2.6 trillion.
However, those lofty ambitions have remained so far largely symbolic, with the leaders able to agree by the year-end deadline on only about 80% of the steps needed to break down barriers to the free flow of goods, services and people across the region.
