Philippines benefiting most from AFTA: Official

Philippines benefiting most from AFTA: Official

Agence France Press, Manila

The Philippines, where firms are pleading for greater
protection from regional competition, has benefited the most
under a Southeast Asian free trade plan, ASEAN secretary general
Rodolfo Severino said Thursday.

Severino said under the tariff-busting plan which began in
1993, the Philippines' exports to other members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grew almost seven
times.

Indonesia's exports increased by about 118 percent, Malaysia
by almost 90 percent, and Thailand by nearly 80 percent, he said,
citing comparative figures among the founding members of ASEAN.

"We often hear from those who fear being hurt by the ASEAN
Free Trade Area or AFTA. Those who thrive and benefit almost
always stay quiet," Severino told a forum here.

Severino said the Philippines' total exports as a share of the
ASEAN market expanded from seven to 15.7 percent from 1993 to
2000.

Indonesia's exports as a share of ASEAN expanded from 13.6
percent to 17.5 percent while Thailand's rose from 16 percent to
21 percent over the same period. Malaysia dropped from 28 percent
to less than 25 percent.

Some Philippine firms have pleaded for protection from
regional competition because of certain disadvantages they say
they suffer, alleging bad government policies and infrastructure
and expensive power and telecommunications.

But Severino said "the remedy for these alleged ills is not
protection from competition, which hurts other industries as well
as consumers.

"The remedy is to strengthen the competitiveness of Philippine
industries and firms by doing something about those things that
weaken their competitiveness," he said.

Severino, an ex-Philippine diplomat who has campaigned
strongly for opening up markets within the region, said Filipino
industries should "get the government's support, not its
protection" to remove the obstacles facing them.

The ASEAN free trade pact gives duty free privileges to
products traded among member countries and which have at least 40
percent local content.

ASEAN leaders have agreed to completely eliminate all import
duties in the region beginning in 2010.

Tariffs on a wide range of products in the key economies have
been brought down to between zero and five percent under the
AFTA.

Aside from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and
Singapore, the other ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar and Vietnam.