By Borderless
Consumer confidence is soaring in a number of ASEAN countries amid the run-up to the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) launch.
Five ASEAN nations – Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia – ranked among the world’s top 12 in consumer confidence, according to Nielsen’s latest Global Survey of Consumer Confidence, with Indonesia topping the list of 58 countries.
For U.S. companies, strong consumer confidence means a robust market for consumer products, especially in booming consumer markets such as Thailand and Malaysia, Anthony Nelson, director at the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, told Borderless News.
The survey comes in the lead-up to ASEAN’s 2015 ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) launch, which represents an opportunity for U.S. businesses to cash in on the region’s consumer confidence.
If the AEC meets its 2015 launch deadline, U.S. companies will no longer have to wade through customs regulations that vary from country to country and can simply deal with one uniform system, Nelson said.
“Right now, if you want to move goods around ASEAN, you have to clear customs for each individual ASEAN country,” he said. “The more ASEAN can break down that barrier, the easier it is for investors to look at ASEAN as a single market, rather than several small markets.”
“(The AEC) is going to become an increasingly attractive export destination (for U.S. companies),” he added.
The final impact of the AEC is likely to be a mixed bag, depending on how much progress member countries make. But the “customs single window can have a really profound effect,” Nelson said.
While Nelson believes the AEC is unlikely to be fully completed by the end of 2015, progress in key areas can still make a big difference, he said.
Indonesia’s top spot in the Nielson survey underscores the country’s long-term economic prospects, despite what is currently a slowing economy, experts said.
“Indonesia’s long term prognosis is strong. They have a lot of things they need to continue to work on in their economy. They’ve got to continue to work on the business environment. But it’s an enormous country with a lot of advantages, so they have good fundamentals to continue to work with,” Nelson said. “But I think they’re going to have to continue to be strong-willed and continue to work on expanding stakeholder consultation and pushing back against
economic nationalism ,” he said.
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