U.S. investors undeterred by terror, other concerns in Southeast Asia
U.S. investors undeterred by terror, other concerns in Southeast Asia
P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse/Washington
A bloody insurgency in Thailand, bomb attack warnings in Indonesia, a potential revolt in the Philippines and egregious human rights abuses in Myanmar may be enough reasons to put off foreign investors heading to Southeast Asia. But not American investors.
Any perception that such an ominous backdrop, fueled by persistent anger among Muslims in the region over U.S. policy on the Middle East, would keep American businesses at bay was debunked by a just-concluded ASEAN investment promotion mission to the United States, officials and business leaders said.
Led by U.S. ambassadors, who are based in member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the mission received a higher than expected response from potential investors.
More than 200 meetings were held between small and medium American enterprises and mission members during visits to the U.S. cities of Houston, Atlanta and Louisville and the capital Washington, officials said.
"That tells me that interesting things were in the region although it is a market which is a bit far away for most Americans and who do not have a high degree of familiarity with it," U.S. Ambassador to Singapore Franklin Lavin said.
He said he could not quantify the U.S. investments in the ASEAN pipeline as the companies had to discuss further the business plans with management or consider them with other global expansion plans.
During the meetings, some enterprises raised concerns over terrorist bombings and violence in Southeast Asia, where the Al- Qaeda terror network had established a regional wing blamed for some key bloody attacks.
"Our message to them was that all areas of the world involve some element of risk, and the wise approach is: How do you understand it, mitigate it and work around it," Lavin said.
Southeast Asia was "not a perfect world but there are literally thousands and thousands of U.S. companies are doing quite well with very successful sales and trading records," Lavin added.
U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph Boyce reminded that every country in the region was essentially different from every other one and that therefore, "educated business travel is essential."
The U.S. is the biggest foreign investor in Southeast Asia, with direct investments of nearly US$90 billion so far, surpassing investments in China, Mexico, Brazil and Japan.
Southeast Asia is also America's third largest annual overseas export market worth about $50 billion, more than twice the value of its exports to China.
Ernest Bower, the president of the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, said among key factors attracting American investors to the $500 million-ASEAN market was its link with giants China and India under ambitious free trade plans.
"So if you manage your investments well in ASEAN and the region goes like it could, those investments could access combined markets of over two billion people in the future when the plans bear fruit," he said.
The U.S.-ASEAN Business Council organized the "U.S. Ambassadors Tour," a unique annual investment pulling attraction which over the years has covered 30 U.S. cities and met more than 20,000 American investors.