The Australia Philippines Business Council has organised a trade and investment mission to the ASEAN Business Summit being held from December 6-13 in Cebu in the Philippines.

The ASEAN Summit provides an opportunity for the corporate world to engage heads of government and heads of state on those issues of the day that are of importance to the corporate world.

The conference will take participants to the heart of Asian business linking with more than 10,000 Filipino companies and more than 50,000 throughout the ASEAN region and beyond. The Summit will be held at The Waterfront Hotel.

The programme encompasses plenary meetings, workshops, industry focus groups, presentations and other networking opportunities.

The Philippines has a population of 500 million people and gross domestic product of US$700 billion annually.

With negotiations currently under way for Australia and New Zealand to sign into the ASEAN Free Trade Area the trade mission is an opportunity to view the economic and trade possibilities emerging from this region.

Participants of the trade mission will be able to network with hundreds of leaders in business, trade and investment; take advantage of exclusive briefings and networking opportunities with ASEAN business partners as well as Australian and Philippine government representatives at a ministerial level; travel to Manila for a two-day business visit and meetings with key members of the Australia Philippines Business Council affiliates including Australian Embassy and Austrade, Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Philippines Australia Business Council; Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce CCII; and Philippines Business Leaders Forum and ANZCHAM.

For more information, email Melinda Frank on mafrank@mipglobal.com or phone her on +61 (0) 3 9626 2401 or +61 (0) 400 402 776 or visit http://www.aseanbis2006.com/index.php