Keeping Southeast Asia's investors from redirecting money to other cheap labor sources such as China and India was a key focus yesterday's opening of a conference of regional business representatives, who met to make deals and talk policy.
The three-day business summit was the first such event organized by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to run alongside its annual summit of political leaders, who are hoping to forge closer economic ties among the region's disparate governments.
Organizers recruited the region's businessmen and women to help shape those plans.
"We want them to lobby gov-ernments to make changes in an organized way," said Tanri Abeng chairman of the inaugural ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.
The region's countries will have to cooperate if they are to compete with China and India, ASEAN General-Secretary Ong Keng Yong of Singapore told the business delegates.
Investment will inevitable migrate away from the region's wealthier nations such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, and the 10 ASEAN governments should work to direct that money to the region's less-developed countries, rather than to China or India, Ong said.
"The aim must be to encourage investors to put money into the region's lower cost countries, to promote ASEAN as a single production base," Ong said.
Organizers also promoted the idea of a recognizable brand name for regionally made products and services. One suggestion was "House of ASEAN."
In addition to speeches and panel discussion, the summit was an opportunity for trade-show style networking at booths at a hotel on Indonesia's resort island of Bali.
Suon Sophal manned a Cambodian government booth to seek investment and engage in some "business matchmaking." On the first day he pitched his country to some 100 visitors, mostly from Indonesia. So far no deals, he said.
Sophal's experience was echoed by Ketut Suardhana, head of the Jakarta-based ManTra management consultants. Suardhana said he would be surprised if he left with any new contracts but added the summit was a "good start."
"We are inspired by the European Union," said Suardhana. "Like them, we want a chance to get together and talk."
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