RP bizmen preach Asean integration

Max V. de Leon / Businessmirror.com, MONDAY, 23 FEBRUARY 2009 23:41 

FILIPINO business leaders plan to launch an appeal to their counterparts in the Asean not to cave in to the present financial crunch and seek “protectionist” policies from their respective governments, because that will derail the region’s economic integration. 

Donald Dee, one of the Philippine representatives to the Asean Business Advisory Council (Asean-Bac) meeting in Bangkok this week, said “on the contrary, this is actually a good time to accelerate the major facets of the Asean integration because robust regional trade would compensate for the slowdown in other key markets like the United States.” 

“We have to make sure that there will be no bottlenecks and that we are all committed to continue opening our markets to each other,” added Dee, also chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI). 

He said among those that should be accelerated are the single-window scheme for Customs operations and the uniform tariff nomenclature. These will be achieved through the harmonization of tariff, standardization of customs processes and procedures, and electronic submission of customs documents 

Through this, the Asean Green Lane will be realized resulting in seamless movement of goods within the region he said. 

At the Asean-Bac meeting, the private sectors of the different Southeast Asian economies will compare notes on how each member-country is coping with the crisis. “We will also see what other things we can do as a bloc in addressing the crisis,” he said. 

Dee will be joined by industrialist Jose Concepcion Jr. and Miguel B. Varela of the Makati Business Club at the conference, which will serve as a sidelight to the Asean Business and Investment Summit. 

In a statement, Varela said the Asean meet, with the theme “People to People: Commitment towards Asean Prosperity,” will focus on the critical role of the business community to realize a speedy integration of the region. 

The adoption of the Asean Charter and the Asean Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint, he said, has given the business community the leverage to rapidly expand across the region. 

 “The Charter and the blueprint are important milestones in Asean’s evolution. The Charter for one gives the Asean people ownership of the region and helps build a global image for Asean, while the Blueprint has established benchmarks that will guide the creation of the AEC by 2015,” added Varela. 

The countries making up the Asean have over 560 million in total population, a total land area of 4.5 million square kilometers, a combined GDP of almost $1.1 trillion and total trade of about $1.4 trillion.