Internet link-up for ASEAN states

Internet link-up for ASEAN states

MANILA (AP): Doing business in Southeast Asia, the world's
most economically vibrant region, will be speeded up through an
Internet link-up connecting 10 countries in the region, officials
said yesterday.

Part of a 23-year program outlined by investment planners of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, it is aimed
at encouraging the flow of capital and portfolio funds in the
region.

Staporn Kavitanon, secretary-general of Thailand's Board of
Investment, said the prototype program developed in Thailand now
has information on 3,000 companies in Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand, with data on those in Brunei, Indonesia
and Vietnam in the works.

Those seven countries comprise the ASEAN.

Salazar said that the group also has offered to develop home
pages for Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. The three countries will
become members of the regional economic bloc later this month.

"This is one tangible sign that ASEAN is already beginning to
turn its vision into reality," said Melito Salazar,
undersecretary of the Philippines' Department of Trade and
Investment.

The Internet database will provide information on the names of
company officials, products, addresses, telephone numbers and
production capacity.

By forming the investment area, the heads of AIA believe it
would be easier to convince non-ASEAN foreign fund managers to
invest in specific ASEAN countries or in a sub-region.

The investment area is expected to offer incentives to
investors in specific industries and capital markets. A plan
defining the scope of the investment area is expected to be
completed by next year.

Lim Pin, deputy chairman of Singapore's Economic Development
Board, said the plan is expected to be substantially operational
by the year 2010 and fully functioning by 2020.