Survey: EU businesses planning to expand in ASEAN
Majority of European businesses are planning to expand their investment and operations in ASEAN, including the Philippines, as the region grows in global importance and increasing profits, but they also said that trade barriers in the region hamper their ability to reach maximum economic potential, results of the latest EU-ASEAN Business Sentiment Survey showed. The second annual EU-ASEAN Business Sentiment Survey, which polled more than 200 executives from European companies around South East Asia, revealed that majority or nearly three-quarters of European businesses project a rise in ASEAN profits for 2016 and almost three-quarters expect ASEAN’s importance to global revenues to increase over the next five years. As a result, the survey said, European businesses are upping their investment in the region. Nearly two thirds plan to expand operations and employment in the ASEAN region, and 85 percent are planning to increase their regional trade and investment. In contrast, less than half of European companies in China are planning to expand.
