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U.S. companies plan to increase trade and investment in the fast-growing Southeast Asian region over the next five years, with Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar attracting the most interest, according to an annual survey of business executives released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.
“These are important markets,” said John Goyer, senior director for Southeast Asia at the U.S. Chamber. “They’ve generally flown through the financial crisis and are doing well. There are stresses and strains, which the report does talk about. But I think the feeling is there’s some pretty decent growth opportunities.”
Reflecting that optimism, 89 percent of the respondents said they expected to expand trade and investment with ASEAN countries in the next five years, and 74 percent said they had already done so in the past two years. Two-thirds of the surveyed executives also said they expected the ASEAN region to become more important to their companies’ worldwide revenues in coming years. Their top reasons included stronger economic growth in the region, limited growth opportunities in other parts of the world and infrastructure improvements.
The enthusiasm for ASEAN also reflects the region’s push for greater economic integration. When the 10 countries are considered together, “you’re talking about a $2 trillion economy with 600 million people,” Goyer said.
The ASEAN countries - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - hope to wrap up talks with China, Japan, South Korea, India, New Zealand and Australia on the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement by the end of 2015. Trade barriers among these countries would be reduced if the deal gets inked.
ASEAN countries also are involved in their own deeper regional integration effort known as the ASEAN Economic Community, also slated for conclusion by the end of 2015. However, only 4 percent of business executives thought that deadline would be met, while 52 percent said it would take until at least 2020 to complete the project.
Nevertheless, 81 percent of respondents said they believed the regional integration effort was important to helping their companies do business in the region. In addition, many U.S. companies use existing ASEAN trade agreements to export from the region to countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, Goyer said.
Pirouetting to Asia
Turning to individual countries, 41 percent of respondents said their companies planned to expand operations in Indonesia, 37 percent in Vietnam and 35 percent in Myanmar, a frontier market for many American businesses after years of economic isolation and sanctions. Here’s a video on Myanmar featuring the senior commercial officer in the region.
Ninety-one percent of those surveyed in Myanmar said they expected their profits to increase in the country in 2015, while 44 percent said remaining sanctions still had an impact on their investment decisions. Those include detailed reporting requirements that must be filed with the U.S. government as well as an “extensive” list of Myanmar entities and individuals with whom American companies are barred from doing business, Goyer said.
The sanctions are not likely to ease further in the short-term, most analysts agree.
Respondents to the Chamber survey were least interested in expanding business in Brunei and Laos, two of the smallest markets in the region.
The survey results are interesting because they highlight the views of mostly larger U.S. companies that have regional offices there. SMEs, like most members of WPG, while not operating Southeast Asia regional offices (yet), can certainly learn from watching where the bigger fish go to feed. In addition, there may be opportunities offering goods and services to these companies as they attempt to get a toehold in a newly opened market like Myanmar, or expand in fast-growing, hugely populated markets such as Indonesia.
The “pivot to Asia” is in full swing, led by the private sector.
| Product Model | Inside Diameter | Outside Diameter | Thickness |
| PCM455050E bearing | 45 | 50 | 50 |
| PCM455040E bearing | 45 | 50 | 40 |