the Dept. of Trade and Industry is encouraging franchise
owners to expand in other Southeast Asian countries, as more Filipino brands
are getting access to a larger share of the population of the region.
Eric Elnar, DTI trade service
officer of the Foreign Trade Service Corps, said they can use the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) to penetrate the
ASEAN region.
"Under the ASEAN, we
have an ASEAN free trade agreement so basically, it just says that franchising
is one of the sectors that is being promoted in the ASEAN agreement. So, it's a
good idea for franchise owners in the Philippines to look at expanding first in
other ASEAN countries before you expand elsewhere," he said.
Mr. Elnar pointed out that
franchising is considered under distribution services, same with retail and
wholesale services, stipulated in the packages of services commitments in ASEAN
Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS).
To expand presence in the
ASEAN region, he said Philippine players need to consider Halal certification.
Mr. Elnar cited as examples
Muslim-dominated countries—Malaysia and Indonesia, where they should be
"conscious" about Halal requirements.
"Part of it is food that
Muslims can take so definitely no pork and then no pork derivatives, and then
there's Halal meat so there is a lot of technical stuff that you have to learn.
But basically, if you are targeting a Muslim-dominated country, you have to
look for Halal if your product is mainly food," he advised.
Mr. Elnar said they have to
also intensify marketing strategies, know the industry, market readiness and
market size.
"If you are already
planning to enter one country, make sure to register in terms of your brand
first, make sure that there is no other brand that are registered, that are
similar, or the same as yours in that country," he added.
ASEAN groups Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand, and Vietnam. (Philexport News)
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