ASEAN businessmen to seek more clout

ASEAN businessmen to seek more clout

MANILA (AFP): Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) businessmen are to consolidate their efforts so as to give them greater clout in influencing their respective governments' policies, a senior official said yesterday.

Filipino industrialist Jose Concepcion, chairman of the steering committee of the ASEAN Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ASEAN-CCI), said that the businessmen hoped to come up with a common stand during their annual meeting in Manila from July 31 to August 2.

He complained that over the past two decades, the ASEAN-CCI had been treated by ASEAN governments as a "tolerable partner" and that the group "did not feel it had a meaningful role."

It complained that meetings between ASEAN-CCI and the ASEAN economic ministers and ASEAN senior officials were "meaningless because they (private sector) are ... just asked to present their position paper and then asked to leave the meeting."

But with the region's newfound economic progress and the advent of several groupings like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and the World Trade Organization (WTO), the ASEAN private sector felt they should have a greater say in government policy formulation.

They decided during their meeting in Singapore last year to make "radical changes" in the group's structure in their conference here next week, Concepcion said.

One proposal is strengthening the chamber's secretariat and setting up an office in Jakarta to closely coordinate with the ASEAN official secretariat.

This would improve the relationship between the ASEAN private sector and their governments. It would also give the ASEAN chamber of commerce members access to government reports and allow them a say in meetings among ASEAN economic ministers.

"The private sector will define the vision of ASEAN and identify the threats and opportunities," Concepcion told reporters, explaining that the biggest challenge for ASEAN is to make its products globally competitive.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Vietnam will formally join the regional grouping on July 28.