For those of us in the financial markets, however, the more critical target is 2020 at which time the ASEAN Financial Integration Framework or AFIF is expected to be in place. This initiative has many moving parts and perhaps the best way to appreciate it is to understand the underlying philosophy behind an integrated ASEAN.
This is crucial — our banking sector has grown into a P13.5 trillion industry in terms of assets and is responsible for deposits that have reached a record high of P10.4 trillion as of December 2016. This is a great responsibility.