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Senior executives of US firms operating in the ASEAN region holding bilateral meetings with top Philippine government officials are expected to push for a status quo on the country’s macroeconomic policies, including fiscal, monetary and trade, as well as further liberalization of the domestic industries to foreign participation.
Stability of the country’s macroeconomic policies highlights the objectives of the visiting members of the US-ASEAN Business Council, the pre-eminent representative of American business in Southeast Asia, which is holding their annual three-day Philippine Business Mission starting today.
The mission would seek for greater US company participation in policy exchange supporting flagship programs under the 10-Point Economic Agenda of the Duterte Administration and driving innovation to achieve sustainability and inclusive growth goals.
Washington (VNA) - A delegation from Vietnam’s northern province of Vinh Phuc has hosted a workshop in Washington, the US, to introduce investment opportunities in the province to potential investors.
The event on September 4, which was held with assistance from the Embassy of Vietnam in the US, and the US Chamber of Commerce (USCC), attracted nearly 20 corporations and groups.
Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc particularly thanked Senior Vice President for Asia at the USCC Charles Freeman for supporting Vietnam and its localities in promoting trade, investment and trade relations between the two countries as well as among their localities.
The economies of Vietnam and the US are supplementary, Ngoc said, adding that to maintain high growth, Vietnam needs US goods and high-tech services such as energy, airplanes, industrial machines, farm produce, financial and digital services.
Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam are seeing a surge of foreign investors as the US-China trade war continues, according to CNBC.
US-ASEAN Business Council President and CEO Alexander Feldman said that investors are ‘seriously eyeing’ Thailand and Vietnam to shift production out of China. Because of the trade war, the tariffs have gone to the roof, causing a huge backlash to companies.
In fact, Apple Inc. is among the big corporations that suffer from the trade war as their operations are done in China.
Thailand is a good market for labor because of its relaxed regulations. However, Vietnam is on the verge of tightening its regulations due to unfair labor practices and low salary.
Guns, which is a huge market, is set to move to Vietnam yet its Prime Minister is still concerned about the trade deficit. However, if tables will turn, Vietnam couldn’t afford to fight the United States.
With the trade squabble between the world’s two largest economies showing no signs of abating, and worse – with US President Donald Trump further ratcheting up the rhetoric of ordering American companies to start pulling out of China – American companies are scrambling to shift operations to other Asian nations and beyond.
India is seeking to capitalize on the situation, hoping to lure multinationals out of China to set up shop and take advantage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative that got underway in 2014. But there are questions whether the country’s stumbling bureaucracy can get its act together to do so.
India’s deficient infrastructure scenario, complex labor laws, and bureaucratic approach scupper its emergence as a global manufacturing hub, an industry economist who declined to be named told Asia Sentinel.
BANGKOK, THAILAND—Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi headed the Philippine Delegation for the 37th Asean Ministers on Energy Meeting (Amem 37) and Associated Meetings being held from September 2 to 6, 2019.
Slated for the event is a series of Ministerial Meetings, which includes the Amem-International Energy Agency Dialogue, Amem-International Renewable Energy Agency Dialogue, 13th East Asia Summit Energy Ministers Meeting and the 16th Amem+3 Meeting. In addition, the Ministers-CEO Dialogue under the 2019 Asean Energy Business Forum, which highlights various energy-related concerns within the region and its dialogue partners, would, likewise, take place.
(Manila, Philippines) - In the effort to promote free and open trade, address investment barriers and foster a stronger U.S.-Philippine relationship, a delegation of US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) member companies met with government officials in Manila September 16-18, during the US-ABC’s annual Philippines Business Mission.
The U.S. business delegation of 21 top U.S. firms was co-led by Alexander C. Feldman, US-ABC President & CEO and Ambassador Michael W. Michalak, US-ABC Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director. Philip Vaughn, Executive Director of International Government Relations at Fluor, and co-chair of the US-ABC's Philippines Committee also helped lead the mission.
(Manila, Philippines) - On September 16, DOST and the US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote the development and implementation of science, technology and innovation (STI) initiatives of the government of the Republic of the Philippines in the private sector.
The signing ceremony with DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña took place during the Council’s 2019 Business Mission to the Philippines, an annual set of meetings promoting dialogue between U.S. private sector and the Philippine government.
Indonesia Update: September 11th, 2019
Authors: Angga Antagia, Kim Yaeger, Michaela Wong, Ayu Nadia
THE COUNCIL'S TAKE
Indonesia Plans to Raise State Health Insurer’s Premiums