ASEAN businesses lag behind multinational companies in taking advantage of the bloc’s own trade and investment privileges.
The ASEAN Affairs review quoted ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan as saying that investors from Europe and other parts of the world see the potential of the region with a 570 million-strong consuming market, and are trying to penetrate it, contributing about 49 of the 60 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) bloc countries received, while investors from within the bloc itself only contributed 11 billion USD.
If ASEAN businesses remain lukewarm about their own market, they may take themselves out of the game and find their market share diminished, the ASEAN official said, calling on businesspeople in the region to invest within the bloc.
In the recent years, ASEAN has been actively promoting foreign investment and has undertaken several key initiatives.
Apart from establishing a free trade area, the grouping looks toward forming an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 to create not only an integrated market but also a single investment destination.
It has also adopted various tools, including the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement and the ASEAN Industrial Cooperation agreement, to facilitate business and allow it to take advantage of the value chain of production within the region.
Despite these efforts, the group still grapples with weaknesses that need to be addressed as soon as possible, such as the development gap and uneven concentration in the major sectors.
There are worries about the stability of currencies in the group as well as the increasingly fierce competition in major markets among the imports of fellow members./.
The ASEAN Affairs review quoted ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan as saying that investors from Europe and other parts of the world see the potential of the region with a 570 million-strong consuming market, and are trying to penetrate it, contributing about 49 of the 60 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) bloc countries received, while investors from within the bloc itself only contributed 11 billion USD.
If ASEAN businesses remain lukewarm about their own market, they may take themselves out of the game and find their market share diminished, the ASEAN official said, calling on businesspeople in the region to invest within the bloc.
In the recent years, ASEAN has been actively promoting foreign investment and has undertaken several key initiatives.
Apart from establishing a free trade area, the grouping looks toward forming an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 to create not only an integrated market but also a single investment destination.
It has also adopted various tools, including the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement and the ASEAN Industrial Cooperation agreement, to facilitate business and allow it to take advantage of the value chain of production within the region.
Despite these efforts, the group still grapples with weaknesses that need to be addressed as soon as possible, such as the development gap and uneven concentration in the major sectors.
There are worries about the stability of currencies in the group as well as the increasingly fierce competition in major markets among the imports of fellow members./.
