Here is a set of well-constructed presentation scripts and slides. I made this a few years ago, so some ideas may not seem very updated. The length can be from 12 to 15 minutes.
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Hi everyone. I’d like to show you something that I think it’s really fascinating. It’s AEC or the ASEAN Economic Community. Some of you may think that it’s so abstract, intangible, and so far away that it may not do anything to your life. But today, I’ll change your mind!
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Have you heard about this Asean 2015 before? Some may say yes, some may say no. Well, when I talk to most of my friends about it, they’ll go like…what? what is it? Is it a name of a person? Mr. Asean? Or is it a place? Can we go there? No…not really. But all of these questions show that a lot of Thai people are still not well aware of this fascinating event which will have a great impact to their lives. So, today, I'd like to raise your awareness to see how fascinating Asean 2015 can be.
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I’ve divided my presentation into three parts. I’ll start by giving you an overview of Asean 2015. And then, I’ll move on to what benefits we can exploit from it. How great it is! And finally, I’ll discuss about how to prepare ourselves to welcome this amazing phenomenon effectively. If you have any comments or questions, I’ll be more than happy to share my ideas with you at the end of my talk.
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Well, Asean is not a name of anyone nor is it a place anywhere. It is actually a virtual collaboration among all 10 countries in Southeast Asia. Its purpose is to boost the regional stability in politics, economics, and society. So, basically, Asean can improve our well-being.
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Well, we might compare Asean to the EU. We all know the EU, right? European Union. It is composed of a lot of nations in Europe and uses a common currency which is “euro” Likewise, here in Southeast Asia, we also have a similar regional cooperation called “the Asean Community” and, frankly, we are just following the EU
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by implementing the free trade area or, in short, “Asean 2015” which will be effective in three years. It is a long term process which takes a lot of time and efforts, but in the future, we may be using our own Asean money like euros instead of Thai Baht. So, obviously, there are a lot of impacts to all of us, right?
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The first benefit would be that we will have greater power to bargain with other countries. Let’s see. For instance, if I’m just a poor, little boy with limited resources. I would feel very weak and worthless if I have to go and fight with a big and strong man who’s a champion in wrestling. I would know instantly that I’m gonna lose. But, if I team up with my friends, I would have more power, more confidence, more visions to fight with that big man. So, I might have a better chance to win.
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Just like Asean, Thailand or Malaysia, or the Philippines alone is a small country, but if we team up together, we are stronger. And we will have more power to negotiate with stronger nations like China or the United States.
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Economy wise, with the theme of Asean as a Free Trade Area, the import and export will flourish because there would be no more taxes or tariffs. This is really fascinating. It’s like having duty free shops everywhere and everyone can buy the product without having to travel outside the country. My sister is doing a cosmetic business and a lot of them have to be imported, some from Singapore. And she always complains about the cost for shipment and the tax, which could be very high. So, she has to put a lot of money on the investment. Imagine if she doesn’t have to pay for that tax anymore, she’ll make more profits. And this would make her really happy.
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Social wise, we’ll have more freedom. Because of the Free Trade Area again, there would be a free flow of human resources. That means people can travel and work freely without a visa or work permit within any Asean countries. So who knows? In three years from now, one of us in this room could be working in Singapore, Malaysia or Vietnam. Or we can live in Thailand, but commute to Singapore to work.
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And vise versa, there would be a lot of people from other Asean countries coming to work with us here. So, we’ll be living in a more multicultural environment with more opportunities, and more alternatives both in private and professional lives. Isn’t that great?
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Now, let’s come to the point how we should prepare ourselves to this up and coming event. Well, first of all, congratulations! We’ve come to the right place here in this class to improve our English because it is /the/ official language of Asean. Or we may also learn one or more of other Asean local languages such as Chinese, Malay, or Cambodian.
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Apart from the language proficiency, we can also improve our professional skills and efficiencies. I can tell you, there will be a lot more competitions, so we need to raise our standard to meet the international bar. I have a friend in Singapore. His name is Simon. He’s an accountant, and you know what? At the moment he’s studying Thai commercial laws because he plans to move to Thailand, to work and live here. Well, normally accounting positions in Thailand are reserved only for Thai citizens. But after 2015, this rule will not work anymore because of the Free Trade Area. That means, local Thai accountants must work harder…much harder, to compete with someone like Simon who has a background in international accounting with knowledge in Thai commercial laws. He also speaks fluent English. He’s shark. He’s someone to beat. So, if we are aware of this situation, we can prepare ourselves for it. To be one step ahead of others can give us a great advantage to compete for victory.
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To sum up, Asean 2015 is really happening and it’s gonna affect a lot of us in many ways from political, economy, or social aspects. So, we should get ourselves ready by improving our proficiency both in languages and technical skills. Start now, today, right this second because three years isn’t that long. Thank you.
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