Globe eyes expansion in ASEAN

MANILA, Philippines - Globe Telecom is eyeing to expand operations within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to complement the relatively strong economic growth within the region.

“We will look for white space within ASEAN and Asia on where to leverage the skills we’ve developed overtime and we do think we’ve developed a decent telco business here in the Philippines. We have a great team and we’re thinking of ways to leverage that further in emerging economies,” Globe Telecom President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ernest Cu said during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Beijing, China.

The telco chief sees Myanmar as a potential expansion area, adding that there are other areas such as financial services and mobile advertising that they could get involved in.

Globe considers the evolution of technologies in providing products and services that are most relevant to consumers.

“We’ve always taken the position that if consumer habits are changing, then we have to change along with it and deliver what’s relevant to them. The real prize would be getting all of these individuals to access the internet through their mobile phones and alternatives offered by different mobile apps become more commonplace and become the main mode of communication,” Cu said.

During the summit, Cu said Globe is considering to offer GCash, its mobile-based banking service, to the Southeast Asian market including groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The service offers BanKO, a mobile-based, microfinance-focused savings bank, along with Bank of the Philippine Islands and Ayala Corp.

Globe will offer said services once the ASEAN Economic Community takes place in 2015. The ASEAN integration will create a single market and production base for the 10-nation bloc fostering free flow of goods, services, skilled labor, investments and capital.

The Globe CEO's plan of expansion reflects the goals of 635 CEOs and industry leaders in 39 countries surveyed by PwC International Survey Unit between June and August 2014. 

About 57 percent of the respondents said that they are either building or expanding facilities in APEC economies in the next three to five years while 67 percent of the respondents plan intend to increase investment in the APEC region in the next 12 months.

These plans include the 21 APEC member economies including the most popular destinations for investment such as China, the United States, Indonesia, Hong Kong-China and Singapore.

The APEC is an intergovernmental organization composed of 21 member economies, which tackle three key areas - trade and investment liberalization, business facilitation and technical cooperation. The Philippines will be hosting the APEC summit next year.