ASEAN

More than 5 years of experience would be required before an architect or engineer can work in other Southeast Asian countries MANILA, Philippines – Newly licensed Filipino engineers and architects need years of experience first before they could find a job in other Southeast Asian countries once the regional economic bloc integrates next year.

The Philippine economy is expected to outperform its peers in the region this year and next, Maybank Kim Eng said in a report Monday. “The Philippines is expected to outperform its group with growth of 6.2 percent [for 2014] and 6.3 percent [2015],” Maybank said. The Malaysia bank said its forecasts were in line with…

MANILA – While the Philippines could get a net 3 million jobs as Southeast Asian nations relax trade and other rules to form the ASEAN Economic Community, more than a third of them could be “vulnerable jobs,” the International Labor Organization (ILO) said.

Decisive policy action now is a must in order for the Philippines to benefit from the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). MANILA (ILO News) – The Philippines could add another 3.1 million jobs to its labour market as a member of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), expected to come into force in 2015. However, a new…

MANILA – Philippines companies racked up debt faster than their Asean peers in the last seven years. In a report released today, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) said 17 of the Philippines’ biggest companies nearly tripled their debt holdings between 2008 and the first quarter of 2014.

SINGAPORE – Debt at Philippine companies has grown fastest among companies in Southeast Asia, according to the “ASEAN Top Companies” series that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services published recently.

A country’s global competitiveness is reflected in the list of companies in the global stage. Among these are: ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Dreyfus (the ABCD) for commodities; and Pepsico, Coca Cola, Mondelez and Mars (USA), Nestle (Switzerland), JBS (Brazil), Danone (France) for food processing. The top global retailers are: Walmart, Costco (USA), Carrefour (France), Tesco…

MANILA – The implementation of the Common Effective Preferential Tariff scheme under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) in 2015 may imperil the livelihood of about 62,000 sugar farmers and 600,000 sugar workers in the country, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) said.

The Philippines emerged as the fifth biggest economy among the 10-member states of the Association of Southeast Nations in 2013, based on the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices which stood at $269 billion, data from the Asean showed.

Bright prospects seen in electronics, apparel, food The Philippines has been identified as one of the emerging manufacturing nations in the region, but the country’s developments in this sector may still be paling in comparison to those seen among its neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). In a July 2014 edition of…

WITH the economic integration in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) happening next year, member-countries that envisioned a single market and production base are also pressing to integrate with the global community, an expert said. Glenda T. Reyes, component lead of the Trade and Investment Policy of Deloitte Consulting LLP said during the Department of…

For some students of the University of the Philippines, the unexpected long vacation was the biggest boon resulting from the sudden change in the school calendar, from June to March of previous years, to this schoolyear’s August to May time frame.

Thailand tops regional scorecard while Vietnam brings up the rear The Philippines’ top publicly listed corporations have improved their corporate governance (CG) practices over the past year but they need to work harder to catch up with peers from Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, according to the Asean corporate governance scorecard. The average CG scores of…

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippines is quickly becoming one of the four “hottest e-commerce markets” in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as the local economy presents a lucrative market for online sales, according to the Hong Kong-headquartered Dezan Shira and Associates.

With economic integration looming in 2015, ASEAN is attracting the investment community’s attention, given its combined GDP of US$2.1 trillion and 600-million strong consumer market and labor base. Vast fishing stocks, wide arable lands, and untapped mineral and gas deposits — not to mention an expanding middle class and ready access to some of the…

But it must address the weaknesses of some sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture, and challenges in energy, transport and infrastructure MANILA, Philippines – Is the Philippines ready for the upcoming ASEAN economic community?

MANILA, Philippines – Overall, the Philippines has shown its commitment to the Asean Economic Community (AEC) blueprint as indicated in the relevant measures it has implemented from 2008 to 2011, but there is still room to speed up its progress as 2015 nears.

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines may lose an even bigger chunk of its skilled labor force to neighbors in Association of Southeast Asian Nations, where workers get paid better when the region’s economic integration goes on full swing at end-2015, according to the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop).

The Philippines will post the fastest growth among the five largest economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations over the next two years, the International Monetary Fund said Monday.

The Philippine economy will likely grow the fastest among the ASEAN-5 nations this year and next, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a regional economic report.

COUNTRIES IN ASIA must continue working on developing their economies further as the region becomes more interconnected, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

At the April 10 Asean Economic Community (AEC) Forum, Alyansa Agrikultura leaders felt that the government needed to give more attention to Philippine agriculture.

The restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution will be the white dinosaur in the room when the ASEAN Economic Integration is launched in 2015. The Pearl of the Orient Seas is also Asia’s Old Man of the Sea.

FROM A FLEDGLING organization of five member-states in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has evolved into a dynamic force in the global arena. The ASEAN “solar system” now has 10 countries revolving around its axis. The analogy is quite apt considering that each of these countries has different stages of growth and…

University of the Philippines (UP) Professor Benjamin Diokno has submitted a study that the Philippines will be the least attractive investment destination in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) once it formally integrates as an emerging bloc in 2015.

(Reuters) – Southeast Asia is unlikely to hit a target of integrating its 10 economies by 2015, but the group has much potential to be a trading hub for Asia once it fully creates an economic community, the Philippines’ finance chief said on Monday.

MANILA, Philippines – The economic integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will likely not be attained by 2015, economist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s retail industry may see a boost once the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional economic integration begins next year.

THE Asia News Network website posted this headline on March 11: “Asean [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] displays solidarity as region suffers.” The commentary accompanying it noted that Malaysia’s neighbors responded without hesitation to the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, saying this “is testing relations and cooperation among Asean friends and partners.”

MANILA, Philippines – At least P24 million has been allocated for the forging of an agreement that would allow doctors and other Filipino professionals to freely practice their profession in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported over the weekend.