SE Asians: Meet Aseanita

JAKARTA – As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reached its 45th birthday Wednesday, it’s still struggling to get its ten members to agree on some key issues – like what to do about tensions in the South China Sea.

But the middle-aged economic bloc can at least celebrate what may be the first truly Asean company: AirAsia.

Asia’s largest low-cost carrier’s fast-talking founder, Tony Fernandes, not only opened a new Asean headquarters this week but also moved from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta to be closer to the Asean headquarters here.

“We started in Malaysia but now we have become an Asean company,” he told reporters from his new office in Jakarta Tuesday. “I hope that this will spur Asean governments into further integration.”

While Mr. Fernandes’s photo-op - flanked by ten models wearing the outfits of different Southeast Asian countries – was an obvious grab for a bit of free advertising , his claims regarding Asean are not just public relations spin.
Fifty-five of AirAsia’s 85 destinations are within Asean and most of the 10,000 people it employs are here as well. As it boosts its fleet from around 100 planes today to more than 500, most of those will also be flying in and out of this region.

Other companies are also trying to regionalize, including banks like CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, and consumer goods companies like noodle-maker PT Indofood CBP Sukses. But few can boast the multiple stock market listings and executive teams AirAsia has in the region.

Southeast Asia is home to more than 600 million people and has a combined gross domestic product larger than that of India. And while the region includes the whole spectrum of economic development – from Myanmar, one of the poorest countries in the world, to Singapore, one of the richest – the growing middle classes of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines are expected by many economists to make the region the next engine of growth for Asia.

The speed and stability of that growth will partly be decided on how successful the ten-member countries of Asean are at integrating their economies and financial markets – a process that is supposed to gain momentum between now and 2015, when Asean leaders are hoping to have some form of economic community in place. Mr. Fernandes’ industry will be an important testing ground of how far the countries are willing to go.

Asean has plans for an open skies policy which would allow AirAsia to streamline operations, as it would not have to deal with different regulatory regimes in each country.

Differing rules are the reason why AirAsia has had to create multiple joint ventures and stock listings around Southeast Asia. The rules also force airlines to go through different procedures to acquire landing rights and have different sets of pilots for each country. That’s a lot of inefficiency that a low-cost carrier would like to avoid to keep costs low.

AirAsia’s new headquarters will be home to less than 25 employees, but there are a lot of extra desks for it to grow as barriers to business are lowered.

In the meantime, the airline is promoting a new Asean consciousness through a doe-eyed cartoon character named Aseanita, whose Facebook page is dedicated to promoting Asean pride and culture. It asks fans of the page to figure out exactly what that means, but suggests that among things the people of Asean should be proud of are: boxer Manny Pacquaio, durian and the Khmer tattoo that runs down Angelina Jolie’s shoulder.

Whether Aseanita will trigger a new Asean consciousness remains to be seen. But hopes for the middle aged economic bloc are starting to bloom in some boardrooms.
“It is a massive market with massive potential,” said Mr. Fernandes. “People like us will be setting the trend.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/08/08/se-asians-meet-aseanita/