U.S. businessmen bullish on SE Asia
U.S. businessmen bullish on SE Asia
SINGAPORE (AFP): Top U.S. business executives said Wednesday they remained bullish on Southeast Asia's economic future, and encouraged the region to forge ahead with the establishment of a free trade area.
"Despite the recent economic downturn, trade in Asia and especially the ASEAN region, has grown over the past decade," said Jim Kelly, chairman and chief executive of package delivery giant United Parcel Service (UPS).
"Asia now represents a third of the world's total international trade," said Kelly, who chairs the U.S.-ASEAN business council.
He was speaking in Singapore at the opening Wednesday of a S$38 million (US$21.2 million) Asia-Pacific office of UPS.
With the region's potential for growth in mind, "UPS takes a long-term approach to its investments and business strategies and the company will continue to help businesses in Singapore and around the region be successful in the global marketplace," he said.
His statements echoed earlier remarks in Malaysia by business council president Ernest Bower following a meeting of the council's board of directors earlier this week.
"We chose Malaysia for our annual meeting in the region to underscore the importance of Malaysia to the U.S. private sector. We are committed to take action to strengthen this relationship and expand our trade and investment ties in Malaysia and in the ASEAN region," Bower said.
ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The regional bloc's image as an investment site has been tarnished by political problems in its biggest country Indonesia and key member Thailand as well as kidnappings in the Philippines.
Poverty in new members Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam and allegations of human rights abuses in military-ruled Myanmar have also affect foreign investor perception of the region.
Bower urged Malaysia to take a leadership role in promoting a planned ASEAN Free Trade Area that will move into effect by 2003 for ASEAN's six more developed members, and at a later date for the rest.
U.S. corporate executives have said that selling ASEAN as a unified market of 500 million people, rather than as 10 independent countries, would lure more foreign investors, amid growing competition from giant neighbor China.
The U.S.-ASEAN business council is a non-profit organization that promotes increased trade and investment between the United States and ASEAN members. Its members include the executives of several top U.S. companies.