QC dads: Traders still need ‘Asean Integration 101’

Asean Integration? What does it mean to smalltime businessmen?

The Quezon City council called on the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to step up education campaigns for businessmen to have a full grasp of the impact of the planned 2015 Asean economic integration.

The Quezon City government, on the other hand, should identify local industries that could face either threats or opportunities because of the regional merger.

In 2007, the 10 Asean members—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Burma (Myanmar) and Cambodia—signed the Cebu Declaration setting the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 to promote the free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labor and capital in the region.

Under the AEC, tariffs and other trade obligations would be removed or reduced. “Essentially, it is where people can buy, sell, work and invest anywhere in the Asean with (fewer) restrictions,” the councilors noted in a resolution.

But they pointed out that while the AEC would create opportunities, it could also pose threats to local businesses as there would be new requirements and “an urgent need for the whole country to be ready.”

The councilors urged the DTI and the DILG to launch comprehensive awareness and readiness programs to prepare local businesses.

In a separate resolution, the council asked the Quezon City government to identify local major and niche industries that could either flourish or be vulnerable to the effects of the Asean integration next year.