Introduction

Regional FTA between the EU and the ASEAN region, strengthens the need for an Asia-wide sectoral review of the business environment. European companies, approaching the increasingly integrated Asian market, are facing a patchwork of business environments and regulatory frameworks making it difficult for them to decide where to start and how to expand regionally according to a fact-based regional business strategy. There is a need to compare the trade and investment environment between countries in the region. A co-ordinated promotion of European business practices, standards and norms contributes to Europe’s political and economical presence in Asia.

Project description

The European Business Organisations (EBOs) have become a well recognised resource network for European business, the European Commission and the member states to obtain local market information. The aim of this Action is to strengthen the capacity of EBO Malaysia and EBO Vietnam by benchmarking other EBOs’ experience in research of trade and regulatory issues, the organisation of sectoral working groups, and the development, publication and promotion of annual “Trade Issues and Recommendations”. The European Chambers in Korea and Taiwan will be tutors for Malaysia and Vietnam during the whole duration of the project.

Activities

• Identification of major stakeholders, sectors, issues
• Kick-off meeting in Kuala Lumpur, setting of goals and work plan
• Research of the sectors and issues and setting up Committees
• Setting up Regional e-platform comprising of trade issues
• Press conference and release of “Trade Issues and Recommendations” in Malaysia and Vietnam
• Distribution of the Trade issues to relevant stakeholders and uploading to website
• Evaluation meeting to present results and lessons learnt and plan future steps

Results

The Project will enhance the target group’s awareness and understanding of the current trade-related issues situation in the whole Asian region. It will also provide them with enhanced tools to effectively build an industrial lobby in order to successfully bring about long-term changes, in parallel to, and re-enforcing the institutional activities of the Commission. Through increased communication and better co-ordination the EBOs will be able to share best practices and improve their capacity to effectively identify and tackle issues of concern to the European business community. The development of sectoral working groups, the publication of « Trade Issues and Recommendations » and related promotional and communication activities, will strengthen the EBOs.

Sustainability

Efficient and well run Committees allow to create the momentum that is necessary for a sustainable development of EBOs overall activities. The added value created by the increased level of activity will result in an increase in EBO members, and in turn will add budget and human resources to the targeted EBO organisations. Furthermore, the regional information platform, i.e. the EBO website with position papers, will strengthen the EBO Network as a whole, and will be a valuable tool to the local Delegations and other stakeholders in Europe and Asia, also after the Action is completed.

Outreach & Dissemination

The Dissemination and promotion of the project as well as the Trade Issues is twofold: The partners are responsible of promotion in their own countries as well as distributing the Trade issues publication. EUKICA as the European partner has Europe-wide databases at various levels (e.g. multipliers, national and European Federations, enterprises) that will ensure a wide spreading of the action’s results and be in touch with each EBO Network member which will purposely provide relevant information about Asian markets to European companies in Europe and Asia.

Lessons to be learnt and recommendations

The whole EBO Network constitutes an unrivaled grouping having both access to first hand information through daily communication with the industry and well established communication channels with local authorities, local and European business multipliers, European institutions and Member States who all take part in a way or another in EBOs regular activities. The Associate EBOs, having acquired through the years a valuable amount of experience will precisely support EBOs Malaysia and Vietnam in all steps of the Project so they could in turn share their experience with less developed EBOs after the completion of the Project, firstly with Indonesia. The whole project is a proof of strengthening and cooperation among the EBO network to the support of European business in Asia.