WITH the Philippines having taken over the chairmanship of Asean for 2017, all eyes are on the first big event that will happen from March 8 to 11, 2017, involving a series of summits/meetings, such as the Meeting of Asean Trade Ministers, the Asean-European Union (EU) Senior Officials Meeting and the Fifth Asean-EU Business Summit. This note sets some ideas for the summit for the consideration by potential partners.
Alongside the AEM meeting, where EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmström will be present, the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and partners from the Philippines, Asean and the EU will organize the one-day event. Among the partners will be EU-Asean Business Council and the Asean Business Advisory Council.
Similar to earlier editions of the Asean-EU Business Council, there will be a mix of keynote addresses and panel discussions involving Asean and Philippine government officials, representatives of the EU Commission and the EU Delegation, Asean and EU business leaders, B2B meetings between European and Philippine/Asean companies.
In the next few months, we will agree on the sectors to be presented/focused on in the Asean-EU Business Summit. Some industries we have identified already:
- Automotive
- Agriculture
- Food and beverages
- Health care
- Infrastructure/logistics
- Manufacturing
- Financial services
- Energy
- Water
Who should participate in the summit?
- Business leaders from European and Asean businesses
- Regulatory/government affairs leaders
- Asean Business Advisory Council members
- ECCP members
- EU-ABC members
- Government officials (Asean and EU member-states)
- Ambassadors
- Asean economic ministers
- DG trade officials
- Media
As we move closer to this big event, let us just look at the size of the Asean-EU relationship again:
The Asean-EU investment relationship—The EU is the largest source of FDI funds to Asean; given the Duterte administration’s interest to attract more foreign direct investment , the EU investors will have to be targeted, given the fact that the EU’s FDI inflows to Asean reached $29.3 billion in 2014, representing 26 percent of total inflows.
The Asean-EU trade relationship—Europe is Asean’s second-largest trading partner with €1.6 trillion in goods from 2004 to 2014, representing a share of 14 percent of Asean’s external trade.
It will also be important to realize the areas in which regulatory/administrative changes can be made to improve the environment for investments and trade:
Customs and transit issues—The implementation of the National Single Window is high on the agenda;
Nontariff barriers—Work to promote Asean Trade Repository among members;
Health care and life sciences—Harmonized regulatory and testing regimes; market entry restrictions;
Financial services liberalization, insurance and tax issues—Removal of restrictions on the insurance market, payment and settlement systems, long-term investment constraints, taxation cooperation and
excise duties;
IPR and illicit trade—Enforcement mechanisms; protecting IPR, highlighting counterfeit and illicit trade issues;
Digital innovation—ICT regulation, e-commerce;
Automotive—Harmonized regulations and testing regimes, national automotive policies, skills shortages.
ECCP is looking for local partners—business organizations that are interested to be part of this event that will also focus on SME cooperation, involving Europe, Asean countries and the Philippines.