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Sam Beltran

The Philippines is positioning itself as Latin America’s bridge to Southeast Asia, testing whether shared history and culture can translate into hard trade figures as Asean and the Mercosur bloc look beyond their traditional partners.
Manila’s Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro made the pitch during visits to Brazil and Chile from August 10 to 13.
“Upon this human foundation, commercial bridges thrive: the Philippines stands as the premier strategic gateway for Latin American firms expanding into Asean’s US$4-trillion market,” she told an audience in Chile, referring to the two regions’ shared Spanish colonial history, Catholic faith and people-to-people ties.
Lazaro also floated the idea of expanding logistics links – citing the regional presence of Philippine port operator International Container Terminal Services – as a way to cut costs and shield supply chains from global shocks via direct trans-Pacific shipping routes.

The pitch lands in a crowded field, however: Singapore remains Southeast Asia’s dominant commercial, financial and logistics hub, while Vietnam and Indonesia have attracted growing interest from companies looking to diversify supply chains.
It also comes as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Mercosur – a South American trade bloc whose members include Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay – look for new partners amid US tariffs, energy insecurity and wider geopolitical uncertainty.
The two blocs do not have an existing free-trade agreement with each other and most trade is still conducted bilaterally. Combined two-way trade totalled a modest US$33.3 billion in 2023, the latest year for which figures are available.
Moves are being made to strengthen ties, however. Brazil has approved negotiating mandates to negotiate preferential trade deals with Indonesia and Vietnam. The South American nation also completed domestic approval of the Mercosur-Singapore Free Trade Agreement earlier this month.

“US tariffs have already motivated Mercosur to accelerate the trade agreement with the European Union,” said Alberto Maresca, a doctoral fellow at UNU-CRIS and Ghent University, and a visiting researcher at the Getulio Vargas Foundation’s School of International Relations in Brazil.
Maresca said Brazil was leading the push for closer ties with Southeast Asia, adding: “The need for economic and political diversification, motivated by Trump’s foreign policy, would be an important catalyst for a Mercosur-Asean agreement.”
Darynaufal Mulyaman, a political economist and assistant professor of international relations at the Christian University of Indonesia who studies both blocs, said the two regions were being pushed to spread risk more widely.
“States are no longer operating under the assumption that supply chains and partnerships will remain open and stable indefinitely,” he said. “That assumption breaking down forces both Asean and Mercosur to hedge rather than concentrate their dependencies on a narrow set of traditional partners.”
States are no longer operating under the assumption that supply chains and partnerships will remain open and stable indefinitely
Darynaufal Mulyaman, political economist
The Strait of Hormuz crisis continued to threaten Asia’s energy supplies, while Taiwan Strait tensions “threaten to disrupt the semiconductor and manufacturing chains that both Southeast Asia and, indirectly, Latin America depend on”, Mulyaman said.
“These are not abstract risks any more,” he added.
Both regions had good reason to diversify trade partners “at a time of heightened geopolitical competition, growing protectionism and uncertainty around traditional markets”, said Ariane Costa, deputy director of the Brazilian Centre for International Relations’ geopolitics programme.
Common histories
Cultural familiarity could give the Philippines an edge in attracting Latin American companies, analysts say, even if Manila cannot match Singapore’s infrastructure or financial depth.
“The Philippines certainly shares cultural similarities with Latin America and Mercosur due to the common histories that both countries and regions share with Spain,” Rodolfo Caffaro Kramer, president of the Mercosur-Asean Chamber of Commerce, told This Week in Asia.
“Naturally, these cultural similarities help foster trade, and in this regard, the Philippines is the Asean member with the closest cultural ties to Latin America.”
Free-trade agreements that reduce tariffs, cut red tape and harmonise regulations were “always welcome”, Kramer said.

Costa said the Philippines could still carve out a role by leaning on its geography, US ties, English-speaking business environment and growing links with other Asian markets.
“For Latin American companies seeking to enter Asean, the Philippines could therefore become an important entry point into specific sectors and value chains rather than a direct substitute for Singapore,” she said.
Other observers were more cautious, saying the Philippines could not rely on cultural similarities alone to strengthen economic ties.
“Filipino society does carry cultural affinities that make the idea of a gateway sound natural on paper,” Mulyaman said. “The real test becomes whether the country is competitive enough to open up genuinely attractive conditions for Latin American investors and traders.”
Compared with “capital rich Singapore” and “Vietnam’s aggressive catching up posture”, Manila still needed to do more before the gateway framing became “more than aspiration”, he added.
Pragmatic priorities
Closer ties would give both blocs “more agency in shaping the rules and institutions of the international economic system”, Costa said, strengthening the negotiation position of the Global South.
But she stressed that this “should not be construed as Mercosur choosing Asean and the Global South instead of Europe or North America”, adding: “The objective should be to avoid excessive dependence on any single market or geopolitical axis.”
Observers say the most promising areas for cooperation include food, agricultural technology, electronics, biofuels, critical minerals, infrastructure, logistics, energy and manufacturing.
“Mercosur has a great opportunity to become a large-scale food producer to supply Asean and help it achieve food security,” Kramer said.


Maresca added that Asean technology exports could help Mercosur reduce its reliance on Chinese and US imports, while Costa said Southeast Asia could offer new export markets for higher-value Mercosur goods and services.
However, any deeper relationship is likely to emerge gradually rather than through one sweeping bloc-to-bloc agreement.
“What is still missing is a broader strategic architecture connecting these initiatives,” Costa said, noting that internal differences, regulatory barriers and sensitivities over competition could slow progress – especially among South American sectors wary of Asian competition.
“Trade relationships require logistics, information, financing and networks, not only preferential tariffs,” she said.
“For these reasons, I would expect the relationship to develop incrementally: first through bilateral agreements with key Asean economies, followed by greater trade facilitation, investment and regulatory cooperation.”


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The Philippines

Philippines stakes claim as Latin America’s Asean gateway

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro (left) shakes hands with Chile’s Foreign Affairs Minister Francisco Perez Mackenna during a meeting on the sidelines of an Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Metro Manila last month. Photo: EPA

A container ship enters the Panama Canal from the Pacific Ocean earlier this year. Photo: AFP

Lawmakers of the European parliament vote on a trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur in January. Photo: AP

Traffic moves along a main thoroughfare in Quezon City, Metro Manila. Analysts say the Philippines can capitalise on its geographic advantages, US relations and English-proficient business environment. Photo: EPA

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro (left) and Chile’s Foreign Affairs Minister Francisco Perez Mackenna talk during a meeting in Metro Manila last month. Photo: AFP

US transshipment ‘scam’ claims put Asean exporters in a bind

A container lifter is used to organise goods containers at a port in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: AP

A container ship is seen near the Hai Phong International Container Terminal in Vietnam. Photo: Reuters

Workers pack furniture for export to the United States at a factory in Malaysia last year. Photo: AP

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who led “The Great Transshipment Scam” report, speaks to reporters on August 11. Photo: EPA

Southeast Asia must write its own trade rules for China’s ‘flying geese’

A worker inspects fruit at a Chinese-financed mango processing factory in Cambodia’s Kampong Speu province last year. Photo: Xinhua

US President Donald Trump shows a chart of tariff rates at the White House in April last year. Photo: TNS

A car terminal at Yantai Port in China’s Shandong province. Photo: Xinhua

Asean economic ministers pose for a photo during a retreat in Manila in March. Photo: EPA

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Shared history offers an edge, but analysts say the Philippines must deliver more than nostalgia to rival Singapore or Vietnam


Shared history offers an edge, but analysts say the Philippines must deliver more than nostalgia to rival Singapore or Vietnam.


Philippines stakes claim as Latin America’s Asean gateway

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Shared history offers an edge, but analysts say the Philippines must deliver more than nostalgia to rival Singapore or Vietnam

Shared history offers an edge, but analysts say the Philippines must deliver more than nostalgia to rival Singapore or Vietnam