November 27, 2006Media InvitATION

ASEAN exports – Today, tomorrow and the high-value challenge

DHL Asia Pacific recently commissioned EIU to do a research paper entitled ASEAN exports: today, tomorrow and the high-value challenge and will be presenting the findings of this research paper at a press conference. You are cordially invited to attend this specially organised press conference where senior executives of DHL and EIU will share and discuss the crucial findings of the report, as well as highlight a number of key policy areas that have been identified in the paper that ASEAN governments can adopt to nurture and attract high-value manufacturing industries.

It is a well-known fact that exports have been the key driving force of ASEAN’s trade dependent economies success but now faced with an imminent change in the paradigm of global trade largely attributed to the rise of China and India, the trade bloc is faced with an uphill task of reinventing its business strategy if it wants to challenge the growing economies of China and India for a share of the export pie.

The paper aims to examine the state of ASEAN’s exports and assess the challenges that lie ahead by breaking down all exports into two categories: high-value goods and low-value goods with the paper concentrating on the seven largest economies within the ASEAN trade bloc: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar. Some of the key findings of the paper include:

· High-value exports indicator puts ASEAN 7 ahead of EU, but trailing NAFTA

· China has overtaken ASEAN 7 in the value of its exports

· ASEAN needs to create a genuinely integrated, single market

The press conference will be hosted by:

- Scott Price, Chief Executive Officer, DHL Express Asia Pacific

- Christina Koh, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Asia Pacific

- Charles Goddard, Economist Intelligence Unit

The details are:

Date: Friday, 08 December 2006

Time: 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm.

Venue: ARCTIC 3

Waterfront Hotel

1 Salinas Drive
Lahug, Cebu City
6000 Philippines

RSVP

Please reply to Maan Roxas maan.roxas@agatep.com or Michael Dugenia Michael.Dugenia@agatep.com to indicate your interest in attending the press conference.