ASEAN private investment and trade opportunities (PITO) project : interim evaluation 1990-1992

investment and trade interests in the six ASEAN member countries -- Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Evaluation covered the period from 1990-1992. The overall conclusion of the evaluation team is that the PITO project is a success as demonstrated by what the project has put in place to: 1) assist further development of the ASEAN member countries; and 2) provide benefits to U.S. firms through increased trade and investment activity. To appreciate what the PITO project has accomplished to date, it is important to bear in mind the highly ambitious nature of at least two of the project's goals: 1) to promote trade and investment on a six-country regional basis; and 2) to implement the project relying almost exclusively on the private sector in the countries involved rather than on the public sector. It was also the conclusion of the evaluation team that the AID/ASEAN office has managed a complex project involving 3 grantees and 6 countries in a highly effective manner. While the major components of the project clearly are all related, they also encompass quite diverse activities. As a result, the Project components are carried out by different organizations because no one organization could be expected to be equally qualified in providing services under two, let alone four, of the components. Carrying out PITO services at the country level also requires coordination with local business organizations and the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service officer, which further adds to organizational complexity and coordination requirements. The evaluation confirmed that the need and the demand for the services offered by PITO still exist. If anything, they are more intensive than at the time the project was designed. In the time since the PITO project was set up, the ASEAN member countries have agreed to creating an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA). The AFTA should increase intra-regional trade and investments significantly and will also provide major opportunities for U.S. investors who previously were put off by the small size of the local markets in ASEAN countries. The PITO project can be of considerable help to U.S. firms renewing their interest in the ASEAN markets as well as to firms that are new to the region. The PITO offices in the ASEAN countries are now staffed adequately and organized to provide services in an effective manner. In view of the prolonged start-up for the offices, the evaluation team agreed that it would be premature at this time to evaluate the offices in terms of the number of inquiries or potential transactions they have handled. This activity might be included, more sensibly, in the final evaluation of PITO. (Author abstract)