Private funds eyed to bankroll Asean economic integration

Member-countries of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) wants to tap private sector funds to bankroll the group’s initiatives for the economic integration of the region by 2020.

Trade and Industry Secretary Cesar Purisima said the proposal was presented by the ASEAN Secretariat to the high level task force (HLTF) during the recent ASEAN Economic Ministers Retreat.

Purisima said that ASEAN’s existing financial resources is only capable of funding 35 percent of the group’s approved projects intended to pursue economic integration.

"The region has recognized that one way to mobilize resources within ASEAN is to seek ways to pursue partnership with the private sector," Purisima said.

ASEAN is focusing on the implementation of 11 priorirty integration sectors in its objective of creating an ASEAN Economic Community by 2020.

The 11 priority sectors are agri-based products, air travel, automotive, e-ASEAN, electronics, fisheries, health care products, rubber-based products, textiles/apparel, tourism and wood-based products.

To achieve integration, Purisima said "the ASEAN Community will have to subsume some of the present national prerogatives into a supra-national entity, which will require both economic and political adjustments."

Members agreed that in order to realize the vision, the region will have to be transformed into a legal union and body, wherein a charter defines rules for members. This is a departure from the current practice of consensus-building to resolve issues affecting members.

Last March, ASEAN Ministers drafted the road map for the integration of the electronics sector leading to the ASEAN Economic Community by 2020. The road map seeks to accelerate the transformation of ASEAN into a single market and competitive base by that time.