It is important to get ready for the Asean Economic Community (AEC), which is scheduled to start in 2015. Ther Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has achieved world­wide recognition for being one of the most dynamic and integrated regions. The growing purchasing power of the 600­million consumer market and the ongoing progress of the regional agenda as discussed in Brunei last week are offering an integrated market and production base for both business and consumers.

The European chambers of commerce in Asean, including the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), are taking this development seriously. We formed an EU­Asean Business Council (EABC) already in 2011 and launched the first Asean­EU Business Summit in Jakarta that year. The success of the summit in Jakarta in 2011 and of the second and third in Phnom Penh in 2012 and Hanoi in 2013 have shown that these events are a unique chance for the business communities of Asean and EU to interact and directly convey their views, concerns and wishes to economic leaders of the two regions.

Understanding the importance of AEC (Asean's total gross domestic product is estimated at $2,339 billion in 2012; total Asean trade was $2.4 trillion in 2011), the European chambers in Asean and European businesses active in many of the Asean countries decided in Hanoi to strengthen the EABC and establish its own secretariat by early 2014. The tasks of the council are:

• It will act as a platform between European businesses and European chambers of commerce in Asean with a view to advocate European business interests in the region;
   
• The council will identify through regional working groups the key regulatory issues and barriers that affect or may affect European businesses operating and investing in the Asean region;
   
• It will undertake advocacy in Asean on behalf of its members (multinational companies and European chambers) and liaise with EU and Asean administrators (EU Commission, Asean Secretariat, member-states, etc.), business groups and related parties by originating, promoting, supporting, anticipating or addressing key policies, laws, regulations or developments which would affect its members;
   
• It will build networks and develop awareness within Asean and the EU by organizing relevant events; and
   
• It will assist Asean businesses, interested to invest or to do business in the EU, along the same lines stated above.

The EABC will organize every year an Asean­EU Business Summit, parallel to the yearly Asean­EU Senior Officials Meeting. The summit brings together hundreds of local (Asean) and international high­level decision­makers and business leaders to discuss some of the key trade and investment issues. In the summit, business leaders interact with trade and investment ministers from Asean and the EU, in an effort to forge stronger business ties between the two regions. During the summit in Hanoi on April 8 and 9,2013, EABC members handed over to Asean and EU leaders position papers on: Agri­food, Automotive, Financial services, ICT, Infrastructure/Connectivity, Pharmaceuticals.

Leaders to the European chambers in Asean and the representatives of European business found the interactions in Hanoi extremely useful, including the business matching between Vietnamese and European businesses.

Source: Business Mirror; Asia; 2 May 2013