ASEAN Common Time
In-game article clicks load inline without leaving the challenge.
The ASEAN Common Time (ACT) is a proposal to adopt a standard time for all Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states. It was proposed in 1995 by Singapore, and in 2004 and 2015 by Malaysia to make business across countries easier. The proposal failed because of opposition in Thailand and Cambodia: Thais and Cambodians argued that UTC+08:00 was not better than UTC+07:00, which is the current time zone of their countries.
Currently, there are four different time zones used by ASEAN countries. UTC+06:30 (Myanmar); UTC+07:00 (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Western Indonesia); UTC+08:00 (Brunei, Central Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore); and UTC+09:00 (Eastern Indonesia and Timor-Leste).
The proposal would institute UTC+08:00 as the ASEAN Central Time, putting Myanmar at UTC+07:00, and leaving the less populous eastern Indonesia at UTC+09:00.[citation needed] This would result in the vast majority of the region's people and territory lining up at UTC+08:00—in sync with China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Western Australia, while the eastern islands of Indonesia would remain at UTC+09:00—in sync with Japan, South Korea, North Korea, East Timor and Palau.
Some regional businesses have already begun adopting the phrase "ASEAN Common Time", also using the abbreviation ACT, in their press releases, communications, and legal documents. The idea has continued to be under discussion by ASEAN, with Singapore supporting it strongly.
List
| ASEAN relation | Country | UTC offset | Time Zone Abbreviation | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASEAN members | Myanmar | +06:30 | MMT | Some experts suggest that moving to UTC+07:00, rather than UTC+08:00, would be a more natural change. | Myanmar Standard Time |
| Thailand | +07:00 | ICT | Tried unsuccessfully to switch to UTC+08:00 in 2001 under then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The issue remains under discussion. | Time in Thailand | |
| Laos | Time in Laos | ||||
| Vietnam | From 13 June 1975 after reunification. | Time in Vietnam | |||
| Cambodia | Time in Cambodia | ||||
| Indonesia | +07:00 | WIB | A single national time zone of UTC+08:00 has been proposed, however, it is unclear when or if it may be implemented. | Time in Indonesia | |
| +08:00 | WITA | ||||
| +09:00 | WIT | ||||
| Singapore | +08:00 | SGT/SST | Followed Malaysia to switch to UTC+08:00 on 1 January 1982, except under Japanese occupation of Singapore during World War II. | Singapore Time | |
| Malaysia | MYT/MST | Peninsular Malaysia switched from UTC+07:30 on 1 January 1982, and East Malaysia has used it since 1933, except under Japanese occupation during World War II. | Time in Malaysia | ||
| Brunei | BNT/BDT | Time in Brunei | |||
| Philippines | PHT/PST | First implemented on 1 January 1845 by redrawing the International Date Line. It became permanent on 29 July 1990 when the country ended the use of daylight saving time, then set at UTC+09:00. | Philippine Standard Time | ||
| Timor-Leste | +09:00 | TLT | Time in Timor-Leste | ||
| ASEAN observer states | Papua New Guinea | +10:00 | PGT | Time in Papua New Guinea | |
| +11:00 | BST | ||||
| ASEAN Plus Three | Japan | +09:00 | JST | Japan Standard Time | |
| South Korea | KST | Time in South Korea | |||
| China | +08:00 | CST | Time in China |
External links
- . 30 November 1996. Archived from the original on 14 February 2006.
- . Archived from the original on 8 January 2006.
- Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (7 August 2004). . Archived from the original on 17 October 2004.
See also
- Time in Southeast Asia Myanmar Standard Time Philippine Standard Time Singapore Time Time in Brunei Time in Cambodia Time in Indonesia Time in Laos Time in Malaysia Time in Thailand Time in Vietnam