Balisacan: ASEAN integration to open opportunities for local businesses

MANILA, Philippines - The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Wednesday said businesses in the Philippines will have more opportunity for regional expansion and productivity through the integration of members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) slated next year.

“Businesses in the Philippines can engage more in intra-regional trade, increase their market access within and outside of ASEAN, and expand their production capacities in the course of the ASEAN integration,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, was quoted as saying by NEDA Deputy Director-General Emmanuel Esguerra at the Gawad Sinop Awarding Ceremonies of Supply Link 2014 on March 27, 2014.

Balisacan said the Philippine government has already set its key roadmap strategies for the ASEAN Economic Community integration in 2015, outlined in the midterm update of the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016.

“These strategies are aimed at building credible institutions, equalizing development opportunities, creating new growth drivers, and accelerating infrastructure development,” said Balisacan.

NEDA said the ASEAN region has a combined gross domestic product of $2.2 trillion in 2011 and has a large market of about 600 million people.

“ASEAN is now deemed as an ideal investment site and regional production hub. As the region becomes a more dynamic economic block, it becomes more attractive to the rest of the world as investors are expected to take advantage of economies of scale and the large number of consumers,” Balisacan said.

He added that more opportunities are open for investors and producers of goods and services as the movement of goods, services, investment, capital and labor in the region become easier. ASEAN is a major producer of palm products, rubber, coconut, abaca, pineapple and mango products and rice, Balisacan said.

Citing a report from the United States International Trade Commission, Balisacan said "the region’s outward orientation in trade and investment has been particularly important in driving its international trade, growth and development."