The integration of trade and investment policies is important in strengthening the ASEAN economy, as it is the only way to shield the region from global tensions and issues, an official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.
During the pre-briefing for the ASEAN Business Environment Forum (ABEF) slated for Wednesday, March 11 in Manila, Benedict Uy, DTI Executive Director for the Committee on Investments and Business Promotion, said the private and government sectors are expected to tackle investment and trade facilitation, as well as ease of doing business in the region.
With the theme “From Policy to Performance: Making ASEAN Work for Business,” ABEF is a key side event of the 32nd ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Retreat on March 13, 2026. The forum will bring together representatives from the public and private sectors across the various ASEAN member states to advance the ASEAN business environment through regulatory reforms and investment facilitation, strengthen public–private collaboration to foster responsive policymaking and business-friendly policies, and leverage digitalization and e-government services to enhance transparency, efficiency, and ease of doing business. The discussions aim to promote a more predictable, inclusive, and competitive business environment that supports sustainable growth across ASEAN.
With that, Uy stressed the importance of a strong ASEAN economy, stressing “that is our only way to shield us from all these global tensions and issues.”
A strong intra-ASEAN trade and investment regime would ensure growth among the region’s exporters and companies. “They don’t have to look of the region to do business. So important for us to really have a strong ASEAN because this is like a region with 600 million people and all eyes are on ASEAN,” he added.
All eyes on ASEAN
“Our friends in America, Europe, are all looking at ASEAN,” Uy said, citing the various officials business visits going on in the region. “You can just imagine there’s really interest for them to diversify and look at the ASEAN market. So us ourselves should look at ASEAN as a very important market. Young population, good economy, all those things,” he added.
Uy further said that ASEAN is moving toward full economic integration, noting the general uptrend in intra-ASEAN trade and investment flows despite different levels of implementation by member countries.
He cited various efforts and programs to integrate policies, including the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and ASEAN Trading Boards.
On ease of doing business, Uy said that Secretary Ernesto V. Perez of the Anti Red Tape Authority (ARTA) will be one of the speakers at the ABEF and is expected to discuss updates and efforts to ease doing business in the country.
He expressed optimism that reforms will be reflected in business progress and will benefit consumers.
In light of the volatile situation in the Middle East, Uy expects the forum to also tackle issues related to supply chains and logistics.
