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 was not better than , which is the current time zone of their countries.
Currently, there are four different time zones used by ASEAN countries. (Myanmar); (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Western Indonesia); (Brunei, Central Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore); and (Eastern Indonesia and Timor-Leste).
The proposal would institute as the ASEAN Central Time, putting Myanmar at , and leaving the less populous eastern Indonesia at . This would result in the vast majority of the region's people and territory lining up at âÂÂin sync with China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Western Australia, while the eastern islands of Indonesia would remain at âÂÂin 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.