AN influential business leader in the Philippines said synergies among Southeast Asia’s franchising-industry players are critical in their global expansion, given the impending integration of Asean economies at the end of 2015.
Ma. Alegria “Bing” Sibal-Limjoco, vice chairman of the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) and Philippine Franchise Association (PFA), and the vice president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the franchising players would immensely benefit from the Asean Economic Community (AEC) if they would work hand in hand in competing in the global marketplace currently dominated by western brands.
“The AEC is an excellent opportunity for us to learn how to become more global in our marketing plans and product development. But perhaps, the most crucial thing that we need to learn in the era of the AEC is to learn to collaborate with each other rather than compete with each other. We have to work together so that we can reach the goal of the AEC,” Limjoco said during her presentation at the recently concluded Indonesia Franchise Conference (IFC 2014) organized by Kadin-Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Jakarta Convention Center.
With the topic “Creating the Winning Formula to Compete with Global Franchises,” she urged franchisers from the Asean bloc that participated in the IFC 2014 to focus on the strengths of their respective nations and complement each other toward attaining global competitiveness.
“Let us synergize our strengths to make Asean franchises global brands. Indonesia with its 250 million population is easily the most attractive market in Asean. Singapore can be the financing hub. We can learn a lot from Malaysia’s public-private partnership. Thailand, admittedly is the geographical hub in Asean and is the gateway to Asean’s emerging markets namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam. The Philippines, meanwhile, can be the human-resource hub and the training center in the region,” Limjoco stressed.
She enumerated some of the reasons the Philippines can be the human-resource hub and training center of the Asean region: the most number of certified franchise executives, No. 1 in the world in business English and well-educated and service-oriented work force.
She noted that franchisers must first focus on expanding their businesses within the economic bloc.
“Since the whole world is a big chunk to swallow, it would be best to first nibble on regional expansion,” Limjoco, CEO of Francorp Philippines and director of Phoenix Publishing & Central Books, pointed out.
Once their businesses have become stable and have created their own names, Asean brands could start expanding to the other parts of the world.
The Department of Trade and Industry, through the Center for International Trade Exposition and Mission’s “Brands in Motion,” in cooperation with the PRA and PFA, has organized the Philippine Fashion Brand Pavilion at the 12th edition of Indonesia franchise and business opportunity expo as a strategy to export Philippine fashion store brands.
She noted the AEC could be a jump-off point toward global expansion. “Certainly, Asean brands have what it takes to become giants in the industry,” Limjoco emphasized.
Citing the words of Francorp Philippines Chairman and the universally acknowledged “Father of Philippine Franchising” Samie Lim, she said the secret to becoming a global brand lies on three things: customer convenience, service customization and genuine concern to customers.
“The global consumer today value convenience; they want products and services customized according to their needs; and the global consumer today want to give back to society because they are concerned,” she further stressed.
“If Asean brands want to succeed in the global arena, they have to design products and services that the global consumers need. This means that we have to broaden our outlook when it comes to product development and marketing. We should learn to think of the whole world as our market,” Limjoco added.
But perhaps, she stressed, the “most crucial thing that we need to learn in the era of the AEC is to learn to collaborate with each other rather than compete with each other.”
Asean brands, Limjoco said, have to work together so they can reach the goal of the AEC, which are to:
- Make Asean a single market and production base;
- Make Asean a highly competitive economic region;
- Make Asean a region of equitable economic development; and
- Make the region fully integrated into the global economy.
“With our collective strength I am confident that Asean will become a home to global franchise brands,” she concluded.