Asean

Why ASEAN economies are most attractive emerging economy in the world?

Asean as a unit is considered the most attractive, winning votes from 57 per cent of the businesses (Malaysia, 11 per cent; Singapore, 8 per cent; Indonesia, 7 per cent; Brunei, 0.3 per cent; Laos, 4 per cent; Vietnam, 6 per cent; Thailand, 3 per cent; the Philippines, 1 per cent; and Cambodia, 3 per cent.)

Asean's attractiveness was also rated higher than China's both as a market for goods and services and as a production location. Close to half of the businesses planned their investments in Asean coun-tries over the three years by considering the investment attractiveness of the region as a whole rather than of individual countries in the bloc. This was up from two-fifths in the 2011-12 survey.

The main reason for investing in Asean countries, as identified by the largest share of businesses, was to "access a new or growing market", which attests to business optimism in growth prospects of this region. This was followed by "to supply main or leading customers" and "low-cost production facilities".

The four main goals of the Asian Economic Community are:

* A single market and production-base;

* A competitive economic region;

* Equitable economic development, as external trade is an integral part of the region; and

* Integration into the global economy.

ASEAN has an aggregate economic size of USD2.3 trillion, a combined population of 616 million, an average real GDP growth rate of 5.4% in 2012, and an estimated GDP per capita of USD3,745. These are strong pull factors for global marketers.

Just as the growth stories in other countries have become less rosy, that of ASEAN seems to be on the rise. Many ASEAN countries are seeing healthy, if not robust growth rates, based on sound fundamentals and with decent mid-term prospects.

Indonesia - Leading the pack is Indonesia, the 16th largest economy and fourth most populous nation in the world, with 247 million people. The...