PGMA's Speech during the 2nd ASEAN Business and Investment
Summit "The Future of Expanded ASEAN Economic Integration"
Don Chan Palace Hotel, Vientiane, Laos
28 November 2004 |
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Thank you very much.
Mr. Minister, officers and members of the ASEAN BAC, officers and members of the Lao
National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, officials of the Philippine government and of
the Laotian republic, distinguished delegates, movers and shakers of the ASEAN business
community, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.
The first ASEAN vision was to have an ASEAN community enlivened by the free flow of goods,
services, investments and skilled labor and the freer flow of capital. This is the reason
we established three years ago, in our summit meeting in Brunei, the ASEAN business
advisory council which would convene annual ASEAN business summit meetings in conjunction
with the annual ASEAN summit meeting.
We saw the ASEAN BAC as a vehicle to provide private sector feedback on the implementation
of ASEAN economic cooperation and to identify priority areas for our consideration as a
means of making ASEAN more economically integrated and regionally competitive. I'm very
glad that the business community has taken the initial step to realize the ASEAN economic
community with the institutionalization of the ASEAN pioneer project scheme under ASEAN
BAC where your developing business projects that will be undertaken with the participation
of two or more ASEAN countries. For instance, you've already started to work, isn't it,
Joe on tourism and agriculture? And I'm glad to hear that you had a very productive
workshop on tourism this morning.
Now, the vision is becoming even grander as it expanded to include Japan, South Korea and
China. In a region where poverty is a common enemy in the midst of rapid but uneven
growth, ASEAN 's response is the full integration of east Asia and strong linkages with
the rest of the world.
The only way we can spread the benefits of development more evenly and rapidly among us,
and also to stand on our own is through expanded ASEAN economic integration.
For the past decades, the exceptional growth in this part of the world has been due in
large part to the export markets afforded to us by North America and Europe. Growth has
also been driven to some degree by the ability of Asians to do what has been called
"reverse engineering" taking apart an existing product from the U.S. or Europe,
reproducing it cheaply or making a better product, and selling it back to where it came
from.
But now, amidst the economic tensions of east and west, this business model is now
becoming untenable. There are now economic tensions between east and west because to
ensure their own economic growth, there has emerged among the developed countries of the
west a growing resistance to the Asian business model. Therefore, we can no longer
continue to rely on that market. We can only see one way out, and that is not by looking
west but rather by looking inward.
The prospects are formidable if the inward includes the three developed ASEAN countries.
The prospects include a single market of almost two billion people integrated by a synergy
of interests within the haves and the have-nots, strengthened by the responsibility of the
developed members to assist the others to increase their capacity and overall purchasing
power.
An enlarged east Asian bloc can secure not only the future of the developing and
less-developed countries of ASEAN, but also the future of China, Japan and Korea as
economic leaders in the pacific century.
Therefore, they must actively participate, and we must all participate towards the
formation of an east Asian regional economic bloc.
The innate strength and potential of an economically integrated east Asia, however, will
depend not only on governments but more heavily on their entrepreneurs and businessmen,
and how you, the businessmen embrace the larger universe of trade.
We can always talk about landing rights in government but it is you, the businessmen who
will get into the joint ventures among the airlines who will use those landing rights. As
the agenda of ASEAN economic integration expands into an east Asian economic integration,
the active involvement of the private sector and industry stakeholders -- being the
driving force of the economy, indeed -- will become more and more crucial.
You, the business community should welcome expanded ASEAN economic integration because it
will give more developed countries in the ASEAN +3 bloc, namely: Japan, Korea, Singapore,
Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand, the responsibility to help improve the quality of life of
less-developed and developing countries by increasing per capita income all over ASEAN,
which will enhance the purchasing power of all citizens in the ASEAN community and thus
effect in turn a larger market for the products and services of these more developed
countries. How far have we gone on the expanded asean+3? We've gone quite far as far as
china is concerned.
We've launched the early harvest program for ASEAN integration with China. In the
Philippines we're now fast-tracking our efforts to make our agricultural sector
competitive because we are entering into this free trade agreement as is the rest of ASEAN
with china earlier than originally envisioned.
But as far as Japan and Korea are concerned many of you businessmen feel that the fifteen
remaining years to realize vision 2020 as the integrated world of expanded ASEAN is
necessary so that business, industry and agriculture will be able to develop the capacity
to meet the challenges of the very developed economies of Japan and Korea. Though i must
say that while in general the businessmen of ASEAN especially the less developed countries
of ASEAN need a full fifteen years to be able to compete successfully with Japan and
Korea. For the Philippines, we have found it convenient to get into bilaterally an
economic partnership agreement with Japan mainly because there is a very strong
complementarity that we must take advantage of between Japan and the Philippines. And that
is on the one hand, Japan has an aging population which needs health care and on the
other, the Philippines has an abundance of human resources in the health sector.
If ASEAN realizes the single market by AFTA in advance, this will lead to the birth of a
mega-market which can be said to be the second China and become the foundation by which
the new division-of-work relation is developed in east Asia.
In other words, if we're going to use fifteen years so that by the end of fifteen years we
are integrated with China, Japan and Korea, we must be integrated first within ASEAN
during those fifteen years, so that we can now work with the richer economies on the
division of labor among us.
In the words of my distinguished colleague, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand,
and I quote: "there is no time for complacency, no time to waste and no time to
delay. ASEAN should quickly shift its gear into offensive mode for economic integration.
Integration surely within ASEAN so that we will be ready for integration in the east Asian
area."
Therefore, we must constantly monitor the vision of expanded ASEAN integration so that we
don't lose track of our total commitment and arrive at this objective in 15 years. There
will be industries among our countries that will say, "no, we're not ready for AFTA.
We have to delay it. My industry isn't ready." But the more we delay AFTA, the less
we will be competitive in the east Asian economic integration. And it is really important
that in fifteen years this will happen because in addition to the ASEAN +3, there is the
emerging ASEAN +3+India, and that will be a formidable regional grouping that can
negotiate then with the European union, the Americas, Africa and such regional economic
groupings.
We have the capacity to form the largest economic grouping vis-a-vis America, Africa,
Europe, but we must make sure that it happens. We must make sure that Japan, China and
Korea will find it more convenient to be in our economic bloc than in that economic bloc
with other more progressive and more developed trading partners. I know that for the
Philippines a successful east Asian economic integration where we would have been prepared
first through our own competitiveness then through a big bloc with AFTA, or we will be
prepared... I know this would mean more jobs, huge business opportunities especially for
small and medium enterprises, more exports and a big tourist market.
Thus, we, in the Philippines aim to be a strong member of the east-Asia team. To become a
strong member of the east-Asia team, the Philippines is healing itself through democratic
reform, economic restructuring and peaceful resolution of some of our long simmering
conflicts.
We've aggressively engaged in building our institutions of government to eliminate
corruption, slay the deficit dragon, and bring new jobs and prosperity to our nation's
poor.
We bring these efforts into the context of our meeting today and in the days to come as we
strive to expand the frontiers of trade and investment, of regional stability and
security, and most of all, to build upon our common aspirations of peace, harmony and
prosperity.
In moving forward together, government and business must use the same set of values and
priorities to understand and to relate to each other, especially in the socio-economic
dimension. Because beyond the economic issues, there is a challenge to our heart and
conscience to build a more caring and compassionate world, where decent men and women work
together not only in quest of profit but also for the benefit of the poor.
Therefore, leaders of the ASEAN business community, I enjoin all of you now to step up to
the expectations of and rise to the challenge of expanded regional integration.
Thank you. |
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