Fledgling digital firms in the Philippines have a new financial lifeline in the shape of a specialist ICT start-up hub, unveiled as 2015 drew to a close.
Developed by the nation’s Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the facility aims to create more jobs, promote tie-ups between growth-hungry, young companies and the public sector, nurture ‘technopreneurship’ and introduce local tech ventures into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) trading bloc.
Speaking at a launch event held in the main campus of Palawan State University in Puerto Princesa City, DOST regional director Dr Josefina P Abilay described the hub as a resource where “ideas can be transformed into products, and start-ups can be guided to become fully fledged entrepreneurs”.
The hub was launched just a few days before the regional bloc announced its reorganisation as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC): a more tightly unified version of the original group, which – in addition to the Philippines – also includes Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Formed in the wake of extensive negotiations, which began as far back as 2007, the AEC has styled itself after the model of political and economic integration that characterises the EU.
Some analysts have taken a sceptical stance over the AEC’s prospects, with specialist research group Capital Economics saying that the bloc’s “tradition of non-interference into the affairs of member countries, an absence of penalties for non-compliance and a lack of a powerful central bureaucracy” make it “ill-equipped” for challenges such as improving infrastructure and reducing non-tariff barriers.
However, Paul Skelton – head of commercial banking for the Asia-Pacific region at HSBC – struck a far more upbeat tone, saying: “The AEC will further liberalise the flow of goods, services, capital and skilled labour within one of the world’s most dynamic regions. It will open the door to significant new investment opportunities to enhance ASEAN’s already flexible and diverse supply chains.”
He added: “Foreign direct investment has poured into ASEAN in anticipation of this new reality, with a world-beating $136bn committed in 2014 alone. That speaks to the opportunities businesses see in the potential of the AEC to provide a gateway to growth in the face of stiff economic headwinds around the world.
The AEC, he stressed, “will help make ASEAN an increasingly attractive production base for internationally oriented businesses wanting to tap into one of the world’s fast-growing, middle-class consumer markets, as well as being well-positioned to offer routes into neighbouring China and India”.
Download the full AEC launch document, ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together.