SEA countries to focus on ‘Think Asean’ policy

The Philippines, along with its Southeast Asian neighbors, is focusing on a "Think ASEAN" policy to cushion the impact of reduced demand from rich, industrialized economies, Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II said yesterday.

Roxas, who was a guest speaker at the 32nd ASEAN Chemical Industries Club conference yesterday, noted that "what is needed today is no less than a change in mindset," adding that "we have to cast off the thinking that continues to burden many of us – that we are good only within the confines of our national boundaries, markets which are protected as our preserve, each nation to its own."

Such a view, Roxas said, "no longer works in today’s world."

According to Roxas, despite the removal of trade barriers through the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the Common Effective Preferred Tariffs (CEPT), regional trade in chemical products did not grow as fast as expected.

Roxas pointed out that intra-ASEAN trade has been relatively week.

He cited statistics which showed that from 1996 to 2000, there has been a relative evening out of trade without the expected high growth that should have come with the integration of the ASEAN market.

In the chemical industry alone, Roxas said, from 1996 when trade in chemicals amounted to only about $6 billion, the increase by 2000 was only up to $9 billion.

Thus, Roxas said, "one can see that nothwithstanding the integration, the lowering of tariffs, and the reduction of non-tariff barriers among ASEAN countries, growth was not as dramatic as expected."

Even so, Roxas said, there are clear advantages to pushing intra-ASEAN trade in chemical products. This include growing annual demand of eight percent for Southeast and East Asian region.