U.S. firms told to keep ASEAN market share

U.S. firms told to keep ASEAN market share

WASHINGTON (AFP): U.S. firms should pay more attention to thriving ASEAN countries if they want to avoid losing out to Japanese and European competitors, U.S. ambassadors to the region said.

"It's a question of awareness," said U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia John Malott.

Countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam -- are small in size but large in commercial power, Malott said.

"We need to make American business a lot more aware of the reality of growth, that they need to start paying more attention to ... Southeast Asia. We are losing a lot to the Europeans," he told reporters here Friday.

U.S. companies also need to learn how to do business in the region, Malott said, which means regular networking, frequent high-level visits, and long-term partnerships.

Both Malott and U.S. Ambassador to Thailand William Itoh suggested that Washington would do well to stop cutting back its diplomatic postings in the region as part of U.S. budget-cutting efforts.

"I'm afraid it creates a perception that the United States is disengaging, " Itoh said, citing the recent closure of two U.S. consulates in Thailand.

U.S. ambassadors to the ASEAN countries have just completed an annual tour of meetings and speaking engagements in the United States, sponsored by the non-profit U.S.-ASEAN Council.

Ernie Bower, president of the Washington-based U.S.-ASEAN Council, said U.S. businesses were also eager for the United States to negotiate tax treaties with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The absence of tax treaties make selling U.S. products and employing American expatriates in these countries far more expensive, he said.

Taken together, ASEAN countries rank third among U.S. trading partners, just after the European Union and Japan, with an estimated gross domestic product of about 550 billion dollars last year.

The Asian Development Bank has projected growth rates among them this year ranging from 5.5 percent for the Philippines to 9.8 percent for Vietnam.