Opening up a world of opportunity

Combined, ASEAN forms one of the fastest growing economic powerhouses and is one of the world’s top five economies, behind the US, EU, China and Japan*.

ASEAN Today

At the centre of the Asian region is ASEAN – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, formed in 1967. The association is made up of ten nations: Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. During ASEAN’s original inception, economic growth, social progress, cultural development and regional peace were cemented as the core principles by the founding nations and still stand strong today. ASEAN's GDP is set to exceed US$4tn by 2025¹, and currently exports a total US$1.3tn, with forecasts predicting exports to rise to US$2.8tn by 2025, making ASEAN the world's fastest-growing trade bloc². In 2020, ASEAN received US$70 billion in new investments the largest FDI inflow of any emerging market region³. If treated as a single entity, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) would be the third largest economy in Asia and the fifth largest in the world after the US, China, Japan and Germany⁴.

* HKTDC Research ASEAN: Market Profile, 2021, ISEAS; 1. PwC, The future of ASEAN: Time to act; 2. ASEAN. Driving Your Ambition (Accenture ASEAN Consumer Research); 3. Invest in ASEAN with Mauve Group, 2021; 4. Hong Kong Trade Development Council, 2021

Why is ASEAN an opportunity?

Now more than ever, companies from all over the world are looking to ASEAN to expand their operations from within the bloc around Asia and globally.


Fast economic and trade growth	Digital growth	A sustainable recovery
ASEAN as a trade bloc is one of the top 5 economies in the world, with its GDP set to exceed US$4tn by 2025¹. Current exports total US$1.3tn, with forecasts predicting exports to rise to US$2.8tn by 2025, making ASEAN the world's fastest-growing trade bloc², and is in the centre of the world’s largest free trade agreements including CPTPP and RCEP.	ASEAN is the largest digitally enabled population in the world with its eCommerce forecasted to grow to US$88 billion by 2025. In 2020 alone, 40 million people in Southeast Asia came online for the first time³.	ASEAN is one of the most susceptible regions in the world to climate risk and people are taking note; 58% of ASEAN issuers say environmental and social issues are very important to their organisation, one of the highest percentages among issuers globally⁴.

1. PwC, The future of ASEAN: Time to act; 2. ASEAN. Driving Your Ambition (Accenture ASEAN Consumer Research); 3. HKTDC, ASEAN E-commerce: Beyond the Pandemic, 2021; 4. Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, How Will ASEAN Members Cope with Their Climate Change Challenge? 2020

How HSBC can help?

Learn about HSBC in ASEAN and find out how we have supported our customer's growth as well as our in-market offerings.

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Disclaimer

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

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References for figures displayed in HSBC advertisements in Bloomberg Media sites:

ASEAN’s digital economy is set to double to over USD350 billion by 2025¹

ASEAN is thriving as the world’s fastest growing trade bloc²

A greener ASEAN offers a trillion-dollar opportunity by 2030 ³

¹ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-10/southeast-asia-internet-economy-to-surge-to-363-billion-by-2025
² HKTDC Research ASEAN: Market Profile, 2021, ISEAS
³ https://www.bain.com/insights/southeast-asias-green-economy-pathway-to-full-potential/

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