ASEAN AND THE REAL ESTATE PRACTITIONERS

By: Augusto B. Agosto, REA, REB

President, PAREB-Cebu South Real Estate Board

Key Pointers in ASEAN

1. ASEAN countriesBrunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Such a development easily creates a vast
economic market composed of 600 million people, which accounts for at least 8 percent
of the global population, spread across 4.6 million sq m of prime real estate.
More liberalized trading will be a direct result of the removal of both tariff and non-tariff
barriers on both goods and services among the member-nations, and is expected to
facilitate the creation of deeper, better economic relationships with our partners in the
region.
2.

local developers will also get a more favorable access to a bigger resourcethe regional
workforcethat is eyed to play a significant role in fueling a stronger exchange of best
industry practices and ideas among the AEC participants.

3. AEC will result in stronger capital inflow and investments, particularly here in the
Philippines, which has gained attention from the international business community due to
the series of investment-grade ratings that we have received from different crediting firms
this year. This now puts the Philippines at a very strategic position, showing a renewed
capability to lure investors and sustain good business returns for foreign businesses
wishing to make it big in the region.
4. More industry players also mean increased rate of construction activities where we will
be seeing mixed-use residential districts, retail, commercial and office hubs, and key
infrastructuresairports, sea ports and many others moreracing to dot the skyline all at
the same time. There will be a greater demand for skilled laborers to help the local
property sector sustain the increased level of property development.
5. There will be a significantly higher rate of consumer spending given the huge inflow of
goods and services. This will then drive the development of more lifestyle-centric
developments, such as malls, retail complexes and properties anchored on tourism, across
the archipelago.
6. Such an event only serves to hasten modernization, increase urban development
standards, and drive unprecedented regional growth in Southeast Asiafactors that
encourage and sustain direct investments in the region.
7. We will also see more emerging economic hotspots in various parts of the country,
particularly in Mindanaoa region deemed as the Philippiness gateway to the rest of
Southeast Asiaas more and more businesses try to get their name out and capitalize on
their newfound economic opportunities.

10 Things Real Estate Service Practitioners Should Know About

ASEAN Economic Integration
1. AEC will result in stronger capital inflow and investments. The Philippines has gained
attention from the international business community due to the series of investment-grade ratings
upgrade that the country has received from different credit rating firms in the past several years.
2. AEC will result in a significantly higher rate of consumer spending given the huge inflow
of goods and services. This will drive the development of more lifestyle-centric developments,
such as malls, retail complexes and properties anchored on tourism, across the archipelago.
3. An increase in foreign direct investments (FDI) in the manufacturing sector would bring
a substantial increase in demand for commercial and industrial development. This will lead
to accelerate modernization, increase urban development standards, and drive unprecedented
regional growth in Southeast Asia factors that sustain direct investments in the region.
4. The real estate sector of the Philippines is expected to grow with the dawn of the AEC in
2015. The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry will continue its robust growth as the
country is still a preferred location by reason of its skilled pool of human resources.
5. Tourism developments would receive major infusion of capital due to the increase access
of people to and from each member-state. Expect the improvement of airports and seaports in
major urban and regional centers throughout the archipelago. Furthermore, expect the increase in
the construction of infrastructures related to and in support of the hospitality industry.
6. Increased rate of construction activities where we will be seeing mixed-used residential
districts, retail, commercial and office hubs and key infrastructures racing to be built.
7. Increase in employment opportunities due to the greater demand for skilled laborers to
help the local property sector sustain the increased level of property development.
8. Increase in demand for Real Estate Practitioners. The immediate impact of the economic
integration of ASEAN will be the increase in demand for both commercial and industrial space
in various economic hotspots all over the region.
9. Higher standards of property management will be applied. The same can be said here in
the Philippines. The increase in real estate projects and its eventual completions will engender
the adoption of higher standards of property management in all these various development and
projects.
10. Residential, commercial and retail developers, which will be exposed to international market
will expand their operations and acquire properties inside and outside the country. Foreign
investors and corporate executives with local operations in the country will look for residential
spaces for a place to stay.

References:
1. The impact of the 2015 Asean integration to PHL real estate,
Amor Maclang December 2013
2. ASEAN Economic Blueprint, Asean Secretariat, 2008
3. ASEAN Integration: Its Effect on Philippine Real Estate, Nov.2014