P&G offers $500m to ASEAN

P&G offers $500m to ASEAN

MANILA (AFP): The Asian office of U.S. consumer giant Proctor and Gamble is offering to set up an ASEAN Industrial Joint Venture (AIJV) which could total as much as US$500 million in five years, Trade Secretary Rizalino Navarro said yesterday.

Navarro said the proposal was taken up during the ASEAN senior economic officials' meeting in Jakarta earlier this month, and would be considered at the economic ministers meeting in Thailand later this year.

Documents obtained from Navarro showed that Proctor and Gamble Asia-Pacific Ltd., based in Hong Kong, was applying to set up the AIJV project in the member nations of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Under the program, different products would be manufactured or processed in each country and exported throughout the region. It would involve setting up an initial $70 million in new facilities in the Philippines to manufacture laundry soap and powders, and other cleaning products.