MANILA -- More Philippine businesses can look beyond their borders for growth by implementing cross-border mergers and acquisitions as the region moves to welcome the ASEAN Economic Community at the end of 2015.

“ASEAN integration is going to benefit the Philippines and among them through mergers and acquisitions,” Bede Lovell Gomez, Vice President of First Metro Investment Corp., said in an interview.

He said more developed countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand need to tap new consumers and markets for them to become competitive.

Gomez said companies of these countries can end up acquiring stakes in the local firms, as the Philippines with 100 million population is deemed one of the key markets in the ASEAN region.

With the start of the ASEAN integration, Gomez said the Philippines will be part of the 600 million population market.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan considered the regional integration a “boon” to the Philippines.

To take advantage of the benefits of the integration, Balisacan underscored the need for the Philippines to address basic constraints.

Balisacan, also the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), said the country likewise should continue investing in human capital.

“The quality of human capital is a major contributor to competitiveness,” he said.*PNA

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