Driving market forces in ASEAN region

Thai enterprises will also be able to benefit from the economies of scale of a much larger combined market of 580 million consumers, not just 66 million consumers in the domestic market.

On January 1, the six original ASEAN members already cut most import duties to zero, while CLMV will follow suit in 2015, opening up new market opportunities as well as a new source of abundant labor for factories relocated from Thailand.

More importantly, it isn't just AFTA-plus-one such as CAFTA with China, but ASEAN is also pursuing the ASEAN+3 framework (ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea), which will have a combined population of 2.06 billion, accounting for 31 per cent of the world's population and 18 per cent of global GDP.

Secondly, there is also the ASEAN-plus-six framework in the making. This adds India, Australia and New Zealand, widening the combined population to 3.2 billion, accounting for 22 per cent of world GDP.

In other words, new market openings for Thai exporters will abound in years to come if they are really competitive.

Yet, free trade is a double-edged sword. Many Thai enterprises could be driven out of business in their own domestic market if they are complacent or not well-prepared for increased competition after the import tariff wall was broken down this year.

In this context, some words of wisdom come to mind. First, you have to learn from your new ASEAN competitors and pay more attention to the more diverse consumer behavior within the region.

Second, don't forget that cost is the most obvious competitive advantage in the initial stage, so keep your costs as low as possible. Third, highlight your strong points and be aware of your ASEAN rivals' strengths and weaknesses so that you can adapt properly.

Fourth, strengthen the relationship with your clients, especially if you're subcontractors in supporting industries, because new subcontractors could be sourced more easily within ASEAN.

Fifth, beware that your skilled workers could be lured away by ASEAN competitors.

Sixth, your strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (Swot) analysis will have to cover competitors from all nine other ASEAN countries, not just domestic ones.

Currently, ASEAN is Thailand's largest export market, bigger than the U.S. or Japan, with Thai shipments to other ASEAN countries totaling US$40 billion while imports from ASEAN neighbors reached US$30 billion last year.

As the second largest ASEAN economy after Indonesia, Thailand obviously has a high stake in the economic integration of this regional grouping, which went into an advanced stage on January 1.

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