Ten Southeast Asian nations recently integrated their economies and their 622 million citizens into a common alliance called the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The ten countries include are lowing tariffs among each other and allowing freer flow of labor, services, and capital across their lands that together span 3,900 miles across the Pacific and Indian oceans. The ten countries that comprise the ASEAN bloc are Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, and Myanmar. Together, this new economic bloc is projected to grow its GDP per capita from $4,130 to $6,618 by 2015 as its population grows to 695 million. In the Philippines alone, huge mall developers are spending billions on malls nationwide as that country’s GDP is about 6 percent and growing. Swedish fashion retailer H&M is one of hundreds of global companies embracing the Filipino consumer aggressively.

Source: Based on Ben Otto and Trefor Moss, “Southeast Asia Launches Economic Bloc,” Wall Street Journal, December 30, 2015, A7. Also, Trefor Moss, “Philippines’ Strong Growth Attracts Big Retailers,” Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2015, B4.