Transnational Corporations and Business Networks in ASEAN: Building Partnership in the Asia– Pacific Region

There are many factors that promote the close, mutual cooperation within the group of ASEAN countries. These states are linked by the economic, social and political ties. One of the elements that can contribute to the deepening of the integration between the ASEAN countries are the transnational corporations and the business networks they create. Transnational corporations (TNCs) are an economic power in today’s global economy. TNCs are important players and their role is manifested in capital flows, technology transfer and merchandise trade. The importance of corporations as global players is growing due to their economic potential, and also because they make foreign direct investment and create business networks, thereby, contribute to the flow of the state-of-the-art technologies from the developed to the developing countries. They play a significant role in shaping the global economy along with the individual national economies, both those developed ones, from which TNCs mainly originate, and the developing economies, to which they relocate their subsidiaries or chosen elements of the value chain. The aim of this paper is to examine the activities of the transnational corporations in the ASEAN countries and the impact these corporations have on building partnerships between the countries. The analysis will also cover corporations originating from the ASEAN countries, which through creation of business networks, actively affect ASEAN relations with the Asia-Pacific region.