AS we see, again and again, targets and goals are one thing; strategies to achieving them are definitely another. Given the fact that Asean Economic Community’s (AEC) policy-making is pragmatic and cautious, taking cultural and political differences into consideration, it is important that efforts to strengthen the regional architecture of the AEC are taken into consideration. The regional architecture will have to be based on specific initiatives and objectives that make markets work better and deliver clear incentives for the member-states and the citizens. Measures with a clear payoff are likely to garner most support, involving areas such as expansion of trade, more productive investments, a focus on inclusive growth, and a clear undertaking to increase the per-capita income.
Institutions for
regional integration should be lean and carefully structured to achieve
results. Formulating a proper strategy to strengthen the economic
integration requires political will, leadership, financial resources,
and a good interaction between business leaders and government
officials.
The required effective
high-level political leadership to shape the new institutional
architecture was visible in Europe, historically coming from French and
German leaders, working together in an effort to preserve the balance of
power within the region. As the European integration progressed,
politicians from other European countries played a key leadership role
at important junctures.
With the AEC rapidly
approaching, we are witnessing a growing commitment from the region’s
leaders; we are seeing almost daily AEC forums in all parts of the
Philippines to convince all stakeholders that the challenges of economic
integration have to be met and converted into opportunities to develop
strategies to concur a 600-million-people market. In recent weeks, I
have outlined key recommendations covering the following sectors:
■ Food and beverage
■ Health care
■ Transport and connectivity
■ Financial services
■ Information and communications technology
■ Automotive
The road maps that the
Department of Trade and Industry is developing jointly with the private
sector are another way to prepare. The challenge remains: dreams have
to be converted into realities.
Within the European
Union (EU)–Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) business
perspective, we are happy that the European Parliament and European
Commission are funding a project in most Asean countries to bring
European small and medium enterprise (SME) closer to Asean SMEs. More
specifically, the goal is to identify business opportunities per Asean
country and for the Asean region to make these opportunities visible in
the 28 EU member-states and then assist the European SMEs into the Asean
markets of their choice. Part of the project is also to create a
level-playing field for these European SMEs to remove technical and
other barriers to trade and investment and to foster B2B
(business-to-business) cooperation with Asean SMEs.
In the Philippines we
have launched the EU-Philippines Business Network that will implement
the project. Involved are all European business organizations in the
Philippines. The objective is to match European and Philippines SMEs in
partnerships that will allow stronger market positions in this country
and, at the same, time provide the basis to successfully benefit from
the market opportunities the AEC offers.
All of these efforts
have a purpose: to work toward the vision of an AEC. In the end, it is
about building a more integrated Asean region, free from poverty and
conflict, prosperous and confident, and well-equipped to shape its
destiny.
source: Business Mirror
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