ASEAN integration boon to PHL

More Philippine businesses can look beyond their borders for growth by implementing cross-border mergers and acquisitions as the region moves to welcome the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the end of 2015.
“ASEAN integration is going to benefit the Philippines and among them through mergers and acquisitions,” said Bede Lovell Gomez, Vice President of First Metro Investment Corp., in an interview.
He said more developed countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand need to tap new consumers and markets for them to become competitive.
Gomez said companies of these countries can end up acquiring stakes in the local firms, as the Philippines with 100 million population is deemed one of the key markets in the ASEAN region.
“There are banks in the region interested to acquire stakes in the banking industry in the Philippines. And the Philippines is also going outwards acquiring or setting up companies outside the country. So the cross-border trade will increase,” he noted.
With the start of the ASEAN integration, Gomez said the Philippines will be part of the 600 million population market.
“The trade of goods is liberalized, meaning the (trade) flow between these countries is open… So we are not only selling to the local market, we can now freely sell and introduce our products to the ASEAN markets,” he added.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan considered the regional integration a “boon” to the Philippines.
“Anything that expands the market for us is a positive development…The ASEAN is a much bigger market. Boosting ourselves to be part of the bigger market is a way for much more opportunities and employment generation,” he stressed.
To take advantage of the benefits of the integration, Balisacan underscored the need for the Philippines to address basic constraints.
“Infrastructure is one, our regulatory practices we must address them and meet the standards required there in the bigger markets in the region and international (markets),” he said. (PNA)
Balisacan, also the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), said the country likewise should continue investing in human capital.
“The quality of human capital is a major contributor to competitiveness,” he added. (PNA)