Synthesis of a discussion on ASEAN integration sponsored by the PH Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Muntinlupa City chamber

1. Bienvenido “Nonoy” Oplas Jr.
Minimal Government Thinkers, EFN Asia, SEANET
Synthesis of Discussions,
“ASEAN Integration Forum”
Forum organized by the
Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI)
Muntinlupa City Chapter, and
City Government of Muntinlupa
Vivere Hotel, Muntinlupa, 20 February 2015

3. Population, Million 1995 2015
Estimate
% Increase
Indonesia 194.8 255.1 31.0
Philippines 68.4 101.4 48.3
Vietnam 72.0 91.6 27.2
Thailand 59.5 68.9 15.8
Myanmar n.a. 51.8
Malaysia 20.7 31.0 49.8
Cambodia 10.8 15.5 44.0
Laos 4.9 7.0 44.3
Singapore 3.5 5.5 57.1
Brunei 0.3 0.4 46.0
Total 434.8* 628.3 44.5*
NOTE: All tables below I added/supplied to add more facts to what
panel speakers have said. Only Ruy Moreno gave powerpoint.

4. Elvie Sanchez-Quiazon, President, PCCI Muntinlupa City
• PCCI preparing local businesses for
ASEAN integration
• Only city that has a competitiveness
center
• Foreign chambers coming, friends
from Singapore, Germany, here,
• Mayor’s focus is on education
• How to optimize the integration
• Do we have enough infrastructures,
skilled labor
• Free trade will benefit consuers
• What will be the country’s competitive
advantage?
• Muntinlupa to be the investment
destination as goal

5. Jaime Fresnedi, Mayor, Muntinlupa City
• Vision, to develop Muntinlupa as a
competitve, business friendly city
• Difficulty in attracting FDIs
• WB’s “Doing Business” annual
report, PH has low rank.
• Cost of doing business in
Muntinlupa being slashed, renewal
of business permit cut the steps
• Launched the Competitiveness
Center with PCCI Muntinlupa
• ASEAN integration eliminates trade
barriers
• We should have a better chance at
success

6. Panel speakers, from left: Cindy Jarabata, Tony Abad, Ruy
Moreno, Roger Lamb, Arlene Dorayu, Bodo Goerlich.

7. Atty. Tony Abad, TA Associates
• ASEAN integration is about business
• People may think of it as discomfort, threats
• So much good things happening outside, somehow we’re left,
now we have to take advantage, enjoy shared prosperity,
• PH has always been protectionist, time to turn around
• Integration is already there. What we see are legalities
formalizing it
• But our local laws and regulations don’t match
• Open up business, remove barriers and legal impediments
• 3 pillars of integration: socio cultural community, security and
political stability, and economic community, AFTA in goods
• 99% of all goods intra-traded are at zero percent
• Services, intangibles, tourism, hotel, BPOs
• Movement of capital with the least hassle, harmonize system
• Competition law is needed, protect the consumers
• No need to bribe officials to keep monopoly, ensure efficiency
and competitiveness
• 3-4 years from now, we will see positive changes down the line.

8. Inter-ASEAN Tariff, Percent
2010 2014 2015
Vietnam n.a. 6.46 n.a.
Cambodia 4.84 5.72 n.a.
Laos 1.38 0.78 0.48
Myanmar 1 0.55 0.20
Philippines 0.18 0.13 0.11
Malaysia 0.41 0.05 0.05
Indonesia 0.06 0.04 0.03
Thailand 0.01 0.01 0.01
Brunei 0 0 0
Singapore 0 0 0
ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) tariff rates for inter-ASEAN trade.
ASEAN member states (AMS) to eliminate import duties on all products traded
among them by 2010 for the ASEAN-6 (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand) and by 2015, with flexibility to 2018, for
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV).
Source: Tariff
Commission,
Philippines

9. ASEAN Exports, in Billion US$
2000 2013 Multiple
Singapore 137.95 410.28 3.0
Malaysia 98.23 228.45 2.3
Thailand 69.15 224.91 3.3
Indonesia 62.12 182.55 2.9
Vietnam 14.48 132.14 9.1
Philippines 38.08 56.70 1.5
Brunei 3.91 11.43 2.9
Myanmar 1.96 11.20 5.7
Cambodia 1.40 6.53 4.7
Laos 0.33 2.26 6.8
2000 2013 Multi
ple
China 249.2 2,209.63 8.9
Japan 479.32 714.93 1.5
S. Korea 172.27 559.63 3.2
Hong
Kong
201.86 458.96
2.3
Taiwan 151.46 303.74 2.0
Source: ADB, Key Indicators of Asia and the Pacific 2014
The Multiple, 2013 over 2000, is not part of the ADB data; added only in this
paper.

10. Ruy Moreno, National Competitiveness Council
• PH geographically well-situated
• PH improved rannking WB-IFC, WEF, TI, HF
• Heritage Foundation, 89th in 2014, 76th in 2015, +13 gain
• WEF,2010-2014, +33 gains in global rank, from 85th to 52nd.
• Global Innovation index, 91 to 100, -9, from 2011-14
• From national to regional and city competitiveness, but difficult
to get data
• Propose creation of regional competitiveness committees,
composition 50-50 public-private leaders
• From 20th century mindset: protectionist, isolationist, no
continuity
• To 21st century mindset: globalization, supply chain, FTAs:
AEC, WTO, JPEPA, TPP, ASEAN-HK,
• PPP, public to simplify procedures, private to execute
• Think big, operate small; no more silos, teamwork
• Competition never sleeps, bar always rises, speed to reform,
maintain momentum

11. Cindy Jarabata
• We’ve been out for a long time, we are now in
• Tourism, PH only 4.6 M visitors, low vs neighbors’
• Tourism about 7% of GDP, but foreign tourism not that big
• Domestic tourism is real driver, 24-25M in 2013, 12-18%
annual growth
• Budget airlines, RORO, contributed to high dom. tourism
• Demographic dividends
• 64(?) branded hotels in, 5-10 years global operators coming in
• Entertainment City is promising. Consolidated strategy
• Opportunities, airports need to improve, other infra
• Weekender visitors not only locals, laready include Malaysians,
other neighboring Asians
• We should be our own ambassadors and invite friends abroad
• Beyond facebook, join instagram
• Integration is harmonization
• Businessmen complaints, hard to do business here.

13. Entertainment City, Gaming tourism in the PH

14. Roger Lamb, British Chamber of Commerce
• Lack of good infrastructures
• Ease of doing business, we are still too low in global rank
• Constitutional issues, banning foreign competition in some
industries
• ASEAN integration will not change that, only local consti
change
• European Economic Community, free movement of people,
capital, transparent laws

15. Arlene Dorayu
• Agree with the points by previous speakers
• Benefits of integration need to be shared to the communities,
inclusive growth
• Local preparedness, do we have enough infra, low electricity
costs
• Education, how responsive is HR development
• Need for continued dialogue of local governments with
investors and consumers, constituents
• Responsiveness of city govt to business facilitation, including
urban zoning policy
• Institutions, organizations like academe, encourage their local
involvement.

16. Bodo Goerhlich, German Chamber of Commerce
• Comptitiveness is 2-way
• Problems: BPOs sustainable? We help bring companies
from Europe to establish here, need well trained people
• Upgrade the skills of local people so EU companies can
hire/use them
• Problem how govt treats big companies; paperwork and
requirements getting more difficult
• More registrations, permits required
• Foreign chambers report to their countrymen, and PH
already has low FDI in the ASEAN
• More Europeans would like to come but in the news are
typhoons, earthquuakes, violence
• No direct flight to europe except Manila-London by PAL
• Costly and time consuming for Europeans to come here as
tourists, so they go to Phuket, Bali, Malaysia
• Unchain the business.

17. Trade Bureaucracies
Trading
across
borders
(rank)
Docs. to
import
(number)
Time to
import
(days)
Cost to import
($ per
container)
Singapore 1 3 4 440
Malaysia 11 4 8 560
Thailand 36 5 13 760
Brunei 46 5 15 770
Philippines 65 7 15 915
Indonesia 62 8 26 647
Vietnam 75 8 21 600
Myanmar 103 8 22 610
Cambodia 124 9 24 930
Laos 156 10 26 1,910
Source: WB-IFC, Doing Business 2015 Report
Ease or Unease of international trade, ASEAN:

18. Panel exchanges
Abad: treat people with ease and comfort, they will come in and
come back; Remove or reduce the restrictions
Moreno: challenge in leadership, public and corporate,
especially the frontline, like city hall. Do the extra mile in public
service
Jarabata: construction is expensive here; Meralco, take ages to
get electricity. Muntinlupa is not a tourist destination; look for a
niche, a brand for business ease
Moreno: SEC registrations/paperwork rising. But in the
Transparency International (TI) data, there is improvement, a
decline in corruption perception. Getting locals’ permit can create
uncertainty. Example, huge gold mine project (Tampakan) that
pass all national requirements, but provincial govt opposed open
pit mining, it’s not operating. business uncertainty.

19. Open Forum (1)
(1) Eng’g, other education, how developed?
• Moreno: foreign professionals are indeed restricted here
• Abad: we are obsessed with exporting our services but fending
off foreign services and professionals here
• Harmonization of services and professionals, mutually
recognized agreements (MRAs), so if they are already licensed
in Thailand, they can practice in the PH, etc.
• Moreno: not only in ASEAN but also in APEC
• Jarabata: global designs, we are not that high out there,
(2) Influx of massive investments, etc., impact on locals, how they
can adapt?
• Moreno: “we have to protect” has been uttered many decades
ago, face the competition and move on

20. Open Forum (2)
(3) How about the sari sari stores type?
• Moreno: jeepneys since 1945, now 2015, time to move on
• Abad: outside world will find their way in, we need to face it and
be more prepared,
• Need to lower taxes, highest income tax in the region but among
the worst infrastructure
• Integration will serve as benchmark; open up more opportunities
for the locals actually
• All econ integration in the world yielded positive results
• Gradual, not sudden influx; we are a globalized country
(4) Taxation, do we have enough incentives say for manufacturing?
• Moreno: more than taxes, high power/electricity costs affect
manufacturing, how to reduce it
• Connectivity is improving, BPOs as proof
• Property development, in other countries government leads,
private sector follows; somehow reverse in the PH
• Abad: nationwide simple rules will encourage investments.