ASEAN INTEGRATION 2015

1. What is ASEAN Integration?

According to the blueprint, our country will enter a state of Regional Economic
Integration in other words, it is the integration of the economies with 10 member
countries of ASEAN in order to achieve its aim of establishing an ASEAN
Economic Community (AEC). ASEAN Integration is aimed at improving and
accelerating the economy of the regional bloc. It hopes to establish an Asean
single market and production base characterized by free flow of goods, free
flow of services, free flow of investment, freer flow of capital, and free flow of
skilled labor.

2. Member Countries of the ASEAN Integration

Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia

Myanmar
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam
Philippines

3. How will you prepare for the ASEAN Integration?

If I am a businessman right now, an entrepreneur or agripreneur, I will start

franchising because can help on preparing by solving 3 critical issues that every
business needs to address. First, Building your brand, next is Upgrade and make
your systems as efficient as you can and lastly, Look beyond the Philippines.
The mindset of Philippine businessmen and managers must change, by looking
at ASEAN as their domestic market while keeping the United States, Europe and
China as export markets. Strategies should correspondingly change for the
Philippines to meet the challenges of businesses from other ASEAN countries
locating in the Philippines and to seize the opportunities provided by the huge
market in other ASEAN countries. The change will only come about if Philippine
business, government and the academe work together not only to bring about
this change of mindset but also to enhance the skills and competencies of
Philippine human resources so we can better compete in the era of ASEAN
integration.

4. Is the Philippines ready for the ASEAN Integration?

Based from my own opinion, The Philippines has a different and unequal
economy today. our country is not yet ready because of some issues in our
education like the calendar shifting then the issues on economic and
agricultural sectors wherein the investments has been declined.
While, according to University of the Philippines Professor Dr. Rene Ofreneo, the
Philippines is currently suffering from an imbalanced economy something that
is highly dependent on the remittances of the overseas Filipino workers and the
Business Process Outsourcing industry. How can we be ready for regional
integration when we do not even have the industrial policy in support of agriindustrialization to calibrate trade policies and negotiations? Ofreneo said.