The recently concluded ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Bali, Indonesia supports ASEAN to be a force in the world as a region with some of the world's fastest rising economies, strategic location between China and India, abundant natural resources, untapped potential markets, a massive consumer base and vast human potential. GE made a significant impact in ASEAN trade and business relations with several deals in the aviation and transportation industry.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton advocated the expansion opportunities in ASEAN to encourage growth of the US economy. This has led to several key wins for GE, particularly for its aviation business where several airline companies in the region have placed commercial aircraft orders.
One of the most significant deals is the largest commercial aircraft order by Indonesian airline, Lion Air, from Boeing for 230 planes including 201 B737 MAX and 29 B737-900ER, both with CFM engines. The potential aircraft order is worth US$21.7B at list prices.
Singapore Airlines has also committed an order for eight B777-300ERs powered by 16 GE90 engines with deliveries to begin in 2013 to 2014.
Earlier, GE Aviation secured a US$1.3 billion contract with Garuda Indonesia that includes the supply of CFM LEAP engines for 10 new Airbus A320neo aircraft and CFM56-5B engines for 15 new Airbus A320-200. The deal also includes services for CFM56-7B engines powering Garuda's Boeing B737-800 fleet. On the transportation front, GE secured a preliminary agreement with Indonesian rail company, PT Kereta Api, to supply 100 trains to Java.
Speaking at the Summit, The Obama administration said that US-ASEAN trade relations has tripled over the past 20 years with American investments doubling in 2010. Clinton also highlighted four key points to support this robust economic activity: lower trade barriers, strengthen the investment climate, pursue commercial diplomacy and support entrepreneurs.
The US government is pushing to develop the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, which aims to create a "trading community that harmonizes regulations to build a more efficient supply chain". The TPP envisions facilitating trade, enhancing competitiveness, and creating an effective regulatory environment. Four out of nine TPP countries are from ASEAN (Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam), which already shows the region's openness to global trade and investment.
As part of the American-Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and other AMCHAMs, GE is supporting this effort to reduce roadblocks in doing business in the region and facilitate negotiations.
GE has been present in ASEAN for over a century and is now a partner for growth in the region, supporting the development of its infrastructure and people. In order to further its presence, GE is exploring opportunities in "company to country strategies" by knowing what these countries need and pulling together GE's resources to meet those requirements.
"We will continue to grow our geographic footprint as we follow our customers where the growth is. ASEAN may be a diverse region, but the benefit of such diversity is that they have unique needs. GE is gearing towards maximizing those opportunities with the right ideas at the right time," says Stuart Dean, CEO of GE ASEAN.
GE is eyeing Indonesia to become one of the company's largest growth markets in the region, expecting a triple digit increase next year. The company has won several major deals in the country in the areas of energy, aviation and transportation and is set to launch its product innovations and new technologies in 2012.
Pattaraporn Viradanont
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