Mayors to serve as marketing officers in ASEAN integration

CEBU, Philippines- Senator Teofisto Guingona III said that mayors have a big role to play in the implementation of the ASEAN integration which will begin next year.

Guingona, who was one of the speakers during the 2014 Island Cluster Conference of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, said that mayors will act as marketing officers of their respective local government units by promoting their products to ASEAN countries.

“Mayors have a big role to play. With the ASEAN integration, they are not just administrators but as marketing man also who will market the product of his town to other neighboring Asian countries,” said Guingona.

Guingona explained that with the ASEAN integration, all products coming from member-countries can enter into the Philippines and vice versa.

“Would it not be wonderful that the best chicharon in Carcar City, Cebu maka abot na sa Thailand, sa Bangkok,” he said.

The Philippines is set to join the ASEAN Economic Community  with an objective of removing tariff and non-tariff barriers to further liberalize trade, financial and labor markets integration, among others.

During the 12th ASEAN Summit that was held in Cebu in 2007, ASEAN leaders agreed to hasten the establishment of the AEC and to transform ASEAN into a region with the free movement of goods, services, investments, skilled labor and free flow of capital.

According to the “ Declaration on the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint”, the AEC will establish ASEAN as a single market and production base making it more dynamic and competitive with new mechanisms and measures to strengthen the implementation of its existing economic initiatives, among others. — /FPL) (FREEMAN)