The purpose of this work was to examine emerging trends in the industrial relations systems of the ASEAN countries to seek an answer to the question: what is the scope for co-operation among the member countries of ASEAN in the field of industrial relations? One of the criteria for determining the scope for co-operation was the rule, as set out at the beginning, that similar patterns of industrial relations will widen and dissimilar ones will narrow down the areas for co-operation. It was, therefore, necessary to detect emerging patterns of labour and industrial relations in the ASEAN countries in order to apply this rule in a meaningful way. To discover the patterns of industrial relations it was desirable to compare theories of industrial relations, and to reformulate them, taking into account some of the distinctive features of the region. Hence, we developed a conceptual framework for the analysis of industrial relations emerging in the industrializing countries. We then presented some of the major features of the two important environmental subsystems in the ASEAN countries, namely, their economies and the labour markets. Then, we discussed the industrial relations systems of these countries, taking note of similarities in the systems and examining variations in them.

Labour and industrial relations systems have been undergoing profound changes in many industrializing countries. These are largely the result of changes in economic situations. As governments of many developing countries have an obsession to catch up with the more developed countries, their role in bringing about industrialization has increased. One of the requirements of rapid industrialization is capital accumulation on a larger scale. Therefore, governments desiring a rapid industrialization of their countries should facilitate the process of capital accumulation by using various policy measures. Since industrial peace is an important factor related to the process of capital accumulation, many governments have tried to make industrial relations commensurate with the need for industrialization.

However, the extent of emphasis on capital accumulation varies according to the stages of industrialization because of the relationship between the dictates of development and the stages of industrialization.