Asean integration is upon us. Whether Filipino organizations recognize it or not, the prospect of economic integration is changing business dynamics across the region, creating new opportunities and with it, new risks.
604.8 million Estimated Asean population as of 2011
Southeast Asia’s efforts to create a single market by 2015 are in their hardest phase owing to protectionist reflexes on sensitive sectors, according to President Aquino.
The Philippines has grabbed the spotlight amid a lackluster global economy, with a think tank describing it as a “rising star” poised to record one of the fastest growth rates in the world and a credit-rating firm raising its growth forecast for the country.
Sixteen Asia-Pacific countries are set to start talks next month on a free-trade zone that would cover over half the world’s population, according to a document obtained by AFP Tuesday.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will pursue a free trade agreement with Hong Kong, a document obtained by AFP said Tuesday.
Trade ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are set to tackle issues that have kept the region from addressing supply chain choke points and other trade barriers during key meetings this weekend.
The Asean Exchanges, a group that includes the Philippine Stock Exchange, is embarking on the next phase of a road show to promote cross-border trading in the region.
Citizens of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members generally don’t know much about or are uninterested in the regional grouping even as the 2015 threshold for building an integrated economic bloc approaches.
Asean Integration by 2015 is just around the corner. Despite the fast approaching deadline, the prevailing sense is that the country somehow seems unprepared to meet the competitive challenges when trade barriers are lifted to allow for the free flow of goods and services in the region. The business sector needs a carefully constructed environment it could use to steel themselves for the onslaught while giving foreign competition a serious run for their money.
Anticipating the impact of the Asean economic integration by 2015 on local rice production and trade, the Department of Agriculture is spending P26 million for a baseline study on the local rice sector in comparison with those of other rice-producing countries.
Manila Electric Co., the Philippines’ biggest power distributor, is planning to build power plants in neighboring countries such as Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand as it moves to expand its power-generation business abroad.
