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.