11th session of ASEAN-BAC
ASEAN Trade Liberation Boosted
The 11th session of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) was held in Hanoi on October 4. This was the first time that a session of ASEAN-BAC has been hosted in Vietnam by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) with the participation of more than 100 officials and enterprises from ten ASEAN member countries.
Trade liberation boosted
Addressing the session, Truong Dinh Tuyen, Vietnamese minister of trade, said that the first hosting of an ASEAN-BAC session in Vietnam showed great faith the Vietnamese business community by ASEAN, with an expectation of rapid and dynamic development in the future. This has proven the great progress made so far by the Vietnamese business community and VCCI in regional and international business integration. ASEAN-BAC was set up three years ago in Brunei Darussalam with the belief of ASEAN leaders that when the council was set up it would create a forum for members to contribute their ideas and comments to the ASEAN business community during ASEAN economic integration and to promote exchange and co-operation among enterprises in the region. Oudet Souvannavong, president of ASEAN-BAC, said that since its establishment, the council has organised many meetings to discuss hot topics for the ASEAN business community. Via these meetings, the council has suggested solutions to promote ASEAN economic integration, creating more favourable conditions for enterprises to promote their trade and investment exchange. Many valuable ideas and comments have been contributed and utilised in ASEAN economic integration programmes, especially in the Bali Declaration of ASEAN Concord. Apart from acting as an advisory agency for ASEAN leaders, the council has organised many activities and issued initiatives to promote contacts and co-operation among ASEAN enterprises, such as the organisation of a meeting of ASEAN enterprises’ leaders and the initiative of pioneer programmes (PPS). ASEAN leaders and economic ministers have said they appreciate the significant contributions of ASEAN-BAC. VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc said that although ASEAN-BAC was established recently, the council has effectively organised many activities, issued initiatives and made suggestions to ASEAN leaders to boost trade liberation in the region.
Co-operation accelerated
At the 11th session of ASEAN-BAC, members discussed many pilot co-operation projects in fields where ASEAN has great development potential, such as agriculture and tourism. Participants agreed that these are great advantages of the region, which will reap high economic rewards for the whole region if ASEAN countries can nurture these advantages and support each other in these endeavours. Most officials and enterprises attending the session gave their attention to improving integration and co-operation among ASEAN member countries, as well as between ASEAN and its regional partners, including Japan, China and the Republic of Korea. During the session, a dialogue between ASEAN and Japanese enterprises took place. Leading Japanese companies attended the event, seeking business opportunities and exploring the investment environment in ASEAN countries. Japan is already an important economic partner of ASEAN with the two-way trade exchange value reaching US$107.3 billion in 2002.
Many participants expressed interest in promoting co-operation among ASEAN enterprises to increase the competitiveness of their goods against those of other regions. Truong Dinh Tuyen said that the ASEAN business community had made significant contributions to building integration roadmaps for 11 fields, incorporating development and integration priorities. These roadmaps have been developed by ASEAN economic ministers and will be submitted to the forthcoming tenth ASEAN summit. He said that the success of these roadmaps would depend greatly on enterprises themselves, which needed to take full advantage of the programmes and policies issued by the governments of ASEAN countries to promote their co-operation in business and investment. He went on to say that at the 36th meeting of economic ministers in Jakarta, Indonesia, he proposed co-ordinating countries to create favourable conditions for business associations of ASEAN countries to meet and discuss their co-operation methods and make full use of these integration roadmaps. The Malaysian minister of trade and industry said that his country would host a conference of the ASEAN textile and garment associations in October to discuss co-operation among ASEAN countries in the context of when quotas on garments and apparels will be removed by developed countries from January 1, 2005. He also proposed that ASEAN-BAC review the integration roadmaps from the point of view of entrepreneurs to make further suggestions for their perfection.
VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc said he highly appreciated the input and comments made by Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen and ASEAN-BAC’s initiative on the organisation of an ASEAN trade summit. The next session of the council will be held in Laos this November on the occasion of the ASEAN summit. Loc said that leading enterprises in Vietnam would be invited to join the session.
Jose S. Concepcion, Jr – Chairman of the Philippines Submission of ASEAN - BAC: Favourable business environment should be created
All ASEAN economic integration programmes aim to create a more favourable business environment in order to expand the trade and investment market, so that ASEAN enterprises are able to promote their co-operation to improve their competitiveness in the world market which is experiencing complex developments and fierce competition. Vietnam is an important ASEAN market, so ASEAN and Filipino enterprises wish to promote their co-operation with Vietnamese enterprises to create a strong ASEAN economy. We think that the expansion and promotion of business co-operation among ASEAN member countries will mutually strengthen ASEAN nations and liberate trade in the ASEAN region. This will help to create a ‘storm’ to attract investment from other economies around the world.
Khampanh Sengthongkham, general secretary of the Laos Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Gap among enterprises should be reduced
Vietnam’s hosting of this session of ASEAN-BAC proves that Vietnamese enterprises have been focusing on co-operation with and integration into the ASEAN business community. However, I think that Vietnamese enterprises and those of new members of ASEAN, including Laos and Cambodia, are still in the early phases of the development and integration process and lacking in experience, so they need support from other developed countries in the region. ASEAN-BAC should help to reduce the gap among enterprises in the region. VCCI and the Laos Chamber of Commerce and Industry have worked together to boost the development of business communities in the two countries. We have signed co-operation agreements and implemented some programmes. Vietnam is important among three Indochina nations, so we wish to promote co-operation with Vietnamese enterprises to create a strong ASEAN, while boosting co-operation between the business communities of the two countries.
Robert Yap, YCH Group of Singapore: Meetings should be organised according to fields
Although ASEAN-BAC has developed many programmes to support enterprises in the region and issued many initiatives benefiting the business community, the implementation of these programmes and initiatives remains constrained among enterprises. For example, our company specialises in shipping liners and forwarding and we want to work with other enterprises in the region in this field. However, we face many information constraints regarding the markets of other countries in the region. We have almost no information about Vietnam and some other countries. This has had a negative impact on co-operation among enterprises in the region. I propose that ASEAN-BAC organise meetings according to fields of enterprise, in addition to the council’s annual meetings, so enterprises will be able to meet and exchange directly with their partners.
Oudet Souvannavong, president of ASEAN-BAC: Best conditions to be created for enterprises
This session is an important step for the forthcoming ASEAN summit in Laos this November. The ASEAN summit in Bali, Indonesia, last October issued the Bali Declaration on ASEAN Concord II with a target of setting up the ASEAN economic community in 2020, in which ASEAN will become a unique market based upon combining the diversified strengths of each member country. This will build up ASEAN into a more dynamic and competitive economic bloc in the world market. The ASEAN economic community will be built based upon the implementation of the existing economic integration programmes, including AFTA, AIA, AICO and AFAS, as well new initiatives. The implementation of these commitments requires great efforts from enterprises in the region. On this basis, ASEAN-BAC will create the best conditions for enterprises in the region to assist their exchange and co-operation, in order to facilitate a positive investment and business environment in the region and to achieve the targets set by ASEAN senior officials.
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