Today, I yield my column to my former Executive Assistant, Niña Manuson. Niña is 26 years old, graduated from UP Magna Cum Laude in 2004, went to Italy and Spain for advance language training in Spanish and Italian and took her Masters in International Relations and International Communications from Australia’s Macquarrie University in 2008.
During this time, she was an Australia Leadership Award grantee. Thereafter, she submitted an essay to an ASEAN-EU sponsored contest open to ASEAN member country nationals age 30 years and below. She won the first prize and won a 1,000 Euro cash prize, a round trip to the ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta where she met with the ASEAN secretariat and journalists.

This winning piece has been published in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. This is the first time the essay is being published in the Philippines.

“More Choices, A Sweeter Life – Benefits to Consumers under the ASEAN Economic Community” By: Ms. Mary Anne Therese Manuson, Philippines

In my house in Manila, the pantry is always stocked with Indomie noodles from Indonesia and jasmine rice from Thailand. My shoe collection includes several pairs from Malaysian shoe brand Vincci, while my brother uses a Creative MP3 player made in Singapore. My family and I bought all these products in the Philippines. On visits to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia last year, I spotted a number of Philippine-made products on supermarket shelves – from 7D dried mangoes to Likas Papaya Whitening soap and Jack and Jill Potato chips.

Consumers in the ASEAN countries have never had it so good. In the last six years, we have been able to choose from an ever-growing variety of goods and services made in the region, while paying less for better quality. This is mainly due to a decision made six years ago by leaders of the 10 ASEAN nations to establish an economic community by 2015.

In the years since, efforts have been made to create a single market and production base in the region, with states progressively reducing trade barriers. The aim is for each country to capitalize on its strengths, produce what it’s good at, freely export these products and import what it needs without having to deal with the hassle of different trade rules, customs procedures and high taxes. Once this happens there will be no unnecessary costs to be passed on to the consumer.

On January 1 next year, ASEAN will become a full free-trade area, with duties on most products abolished and dramatically reduced on other products. Some tariffs will remain on staples to encourage consumers to stay local – for instance, Malaysia will remove taxes in imports of fish and wood items but still keep low import duties on items like tropical fruit and rice, which it produces.

With lowered or no barriers, the movement of people, ideas and money has been gaining momentum.

Businesses have found it easier to expand and operate in the region, while leaders are hopeful that the ASEAN Economic Community will attract new investment from abroad, as ASEAN has a central position in Asia. The region’s 584 million population will stand to gain if that happens, as new and more jobs will be created.

As the region grows, hopefullY will wages and standards of living across the board. ASEAN is already sponsoring activities to help reduce economic disparities between member states and working on initiatives under the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, such as region-wide social protection systems. The tangible benefits of integration can already be seen across a few industries.

Air travel is one example. With ASEAN countries lifting restrictions on their airspace and agreeing to maintain open skies, more Southeast Asian destinations are serviced by more flights. Businesses are finding it much easier to transport products (a new cargo clearance model for the region that ensures air cargo is ready for take off and cleared through customs in double quick time is being piloted in Malaysia and the Philippines). With the availability of budget airfares, ASEAN citizens can travel more even if money is tight. And mostly they don’t even need visas, after ASEAN leaders signed an agreement on that three years ago.

As a result, a host of low-cost airlines like Tiger Airways, Air Asia and Cebu Pacific have mushroomed, each offering special deals. Cheap air travel has directly boosted tourism and allows ASEAN citizens to get to know their neighbours’ history and culture. In 2005, ASEAN countries welcomed some 23.2 million visitors from within the region. This figure increased to 28.6 million in 2008.

In terms of healthcare, convenient air travel has significantly increased regional health tourism, allowing Indonesians and Filipinos – like my aunt’s friend who recently underwent a liver transplant in Singapore – to seek out top-class ASEAN hospitals for more complex procedures. Another Indonesian friend’s father recently had a heart bypass operation in Penang. For elective procedures, Southeast Asian women in search of more affordable cosmetic surgery often head to Bangkok.

With the current trend of inter-regional collaboration between ASEAN nations and healthcare providers, competitively priced medical products and services are increasingly accessible to consumers. One example is Filipino pharmaceutical firm Unilab which markets its affordable analgesics and cough and cold mixtures all over Southeast Asia through joint ventures with other companies in the region.

As we speak, the ASEAN countries are developing a mutual recognition arrangement for medical personnel and common standards for medical devices. This means quality healthcare will no longer be limited to well-to-do Southeast Asians with the means to seek expensive treatment overseas.

As ASEAN countries get closer to becoming an economic community, life for the man-on-the-street will be infinitely sweeter. More product choices, fast affordable travel and better quality healthcare are already part of my life. If ASEAN can deliver on its vision then surely all consumers here will be king.