ASEAN

The Philippines is expected to outpace other Southeast Asian economies with a forecast gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in Manila on Wednesday.

MANILA, July 6 (Bernama) — Despite having glossy economic indicators, the Philippines has lagged behind other member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in attracting foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the year of 2012, according to a report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Having attended several international conferences on women, I expected the Women Deliver 2013 global summit held in Kuala Lumpur last week to pass resolutions to accelerate the movement to reach the Millennium Development Goal 5 (targeted at 2015), and presenting them to the world’s governments for implementation. No such thing occurred. Women Deliver founder and…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines remains Southeast Asia’s laggard in terms of motor vehicle and motorcycle production, according to latest data from the ASEAN Automotive Federation (AAF).

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines continued to lag behind its peers in the Southeast Asian region in terms of motor vehicle production as it saw the number of assembled vehicles in the first quarter decline year-on-year.

THE PHILIPPINES could become a gateway to Southeast Asia when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) pushes through with market integration in 2015, a Cabinet official last week said.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – Despite its better than expected 6. 6 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth last year, the Philippines will lag behind other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the long-term if it does not adopt the needed improvements, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The Philippines needs to achieve more reforms in trade to better participate in the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), Asian Development Bank (ADB) representatives said in a live chat event on Thursday.

AN unpredictable legal environment in Southeast Asia is the top concern of investors, according to an Economist Corporate Network survey, highlighting the challenge the region faces as it seeks to integrate by 2015 in an effort to boost growth and attract more investments.

The Department of Labor and Employment has earmarked P2.97 billion of its P8.12-billion budget for 2013 to skills training and retraining programs, to prepare the workforce for the ASEAN’s integration into a single market in 2015.

Four groups at the forefront of the country’s car sector said on Tuesday that the Philippines is poised to be the next automotive growth market in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), paving the way for more jobs for Filipinos.

SOUTHEAST Asian countries, including the Philippines, are emerging resilient from a period of global turmoil, with rising investment and domestic consumption that will propel growth in coming years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said.

Several ASEAN countries have raised their minimum wages or will do so in the near future to adjust salaries to the rising costs of living and to provide the population with higher purchasing power. However, businesses and investors claim that the wage hikes were a blow to competitiveness and would make setting up new businesses…

The targeted economic integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by 2015 is drawing near and Philippine businesses should be preparing strategies to deal with growing competition and capture a large share of regional investments, the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) said, citing experts.

MANILA, Philippines – A slowdown in investments in China’s economy is seen to adversely affect exporters in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

THE PHILIPPINES is ready for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) planned integration in 2015, despite reports that ministers have called for a one-year deferment.

The Philippines appears to be moving at a snail’s pace compared with its neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as the region nears the 2015 deadline for economic integration.

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has joined Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam in adopting of the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard through the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD).

MANILA – Asean market integration by 2015 would likely be a challenge for the Philippines, as Manila appears to be more “wobbly” now than eight years ago compared with its neighbors in the region, the former secretary-general of the National Statistical Coordination Board said on Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines – Twenty years after the Philippines signed the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement, the country may still not be ready to join the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015.

(Reuters) – A growing number of U.S. companies plan to shift some operations from China to Southeast Asia in the next two years as confidence in countries such as the Philippines improves, a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore showed.

The domestic sugar industry has warned of the possible influx of sugar from Thailand once the full economic integration of ASEAN comes into full effect in less than three years from now.

In the 1950s, the Philippines was way ahead of its original ASEAN-5 counterparts — Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. The Philippines then had the second highest per capita GDP in Asia. Today, all its ASEAN-5 neighbors have surpassed the Philippines; Singapore has assumed first-world status. The latter has been replaced by emerging Vietnam in the…

European banks have large presence in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including the Philippines, which could affect the region’s credit market in case of a spillover from the European debt problem.

JAPAN HAS agreed to begin funding economic cooperation initiatives with the ASEAN early next year as both parties finalized guidelines of project selection and management, a local trade official said on Friday.

HONG KONG  – The Asian Development Bank on Tuesday trimmed its 2012 growth forecast for emerging East Asian economies including China, as the eurozone turmoil threatens to drag the global economy back into crisis.

A network of Southeast Asian fisheries organizations has expressed dismay at the results of the recently concluded Asean Summit 2011 in Bali, Indonesia.

Four Filipina activists were detained by Bali police and are facing possible deportation for participating in a protest against the Asean Summit attended by the world’s leaders, including US President Barack Obama, in Indonesia.

BALI — The Philippines on Thursday called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to sit down and finally tackle the adoption of a legally-binding agreement on the protection of migrant workers.

“GUARDED optimism” was the reply of Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo when asked by reporters about his sentiment on Asean integration by 2015. And this is how it is proceeding despite the euro experience. In a recent article by Esther Samboh of The Jakarta Post, the World Bank (WB) says that Asean should learn…