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Over the past decade, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) in seven occupations, all designed to facilitate professional mobility within the region. MRAs are not easy to operationalize, however. Despite progress in key areas, member states face complex challenges as they move toward full implementation. This report is the latest in a project by the Asian Development Bank and the Migration Policy Institute to improve understanding of the barriers to the free movement of professionals within ASEAN and to support the development of strategies to overcome these hurdles. The report draws on the insights of nearly 400 ASEAN and member state officials, private sector employers, training directors, and others who participated in focus group discussions, meetings, and surveys.

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The goal of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) of encouraging intraregional mobility must be understood in the context of changing population dynamics, rising educational levels and aspirations, and increasingly dynamic - if complex - economic forces. This report explores the forces that are poised to transform the supply, demand, and mobility of skilled professionals across ASEAN, and the unique opportunities their convergence presents for human capital development and brain circulation within Southeast Asia. It draws on the insights of nearly 400 ASEAN and member state officials, private sector employers, training directors, and others who participated in focus group discussions, meetings, and surveys.

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ASEAN members have made it easier for professionals to have qualifications recognized across the region. While these arrangements share nearly identical objectives, they come with varying levels of openness to foreign professionals. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has signed mutual recognition arrangements in the tourism sector and in six regulated occupations: accountancy, architecture, dentistry, engineering, medicine, and nursing. By setting standardized rules for mutual recognition, ASEAN members have made it easier for professionals to have their qualifications recognized across the region. Although these arrangements share nearly identical objectives, not all are created equal and come with varying levels of openness to foreign professionals.

This report is the latest in a project by [Asian Development Bank] ADB and the Migration Policy Institute to improve understanding of the barriers to free movement of professionals within ASEAN and to support the development of strategies to overcome these hurdles. The report draws on insights of nearly 400 ASEAN and state officials, private-sector employers, training directors, and others who participated in focus group discussions, meetings, and surveys.

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Despite clear aspirations by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to create an effective and transparent framework to facilitate movements among skilled professionals within the ASEAN by December 2015, progress has been slow and uneven. This report examines the challenges ASEAN member states face in achieving the goal of greater mobility for the highly skilled, including hurdles in recognizing professional qualifications, opening up access to certain jobs, and a limited willingness by professionals to move due to perceived cultural, language, and socioeconomic differences. The cost of these barriers is staggering and could reduce the region's competitiveness in the global market. This report launches a multi-year effort by the Asian Development Bank and the Migration Policy Institute to better understand the issues and develop strategies to gradually overcome the problems. It offers a range of policy recommendations that have been discussed among experts in a high-level expert meeting, taking into account best practices locally and across the region.

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