The Southeast Asian economies, including the Philippines, are still resilient to external shocks especially from the eurozone area, an official of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said over the weekend.

“A slowdown is always a possibility given how integrated the global economy is. Whether a global economic crisis will ensue is another thing” Dr. Emmanuel Esguerra, NEDA deputy director general for National Development Office for Planning, said in a text message.

He noted that at the moment, Southeast Asian economies have remained resilient in face of problems in the eurozone.

The continued economic uncertainty in the European Union and the United States were cited by a recent United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap) report as one of the reasons for the possible re-emergence of a global crisis.

The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2012 revealed that one threat derives from the intensified direct pressures in the eurozone, and another is linked to the economic crisis passing through China to the rest of the region.

The report stated that the economic slowdown in China has opened the door to the fear of a global crisis re-emergence.

It added that the slowdown of the Chinese economy is placing pressure on the Asia-Pacific’s exports to the Chinese market and affecting the region’s intraregional exports in goods.

The Unescap report also projected that the trade growth of the Asia-Pacific region may further slowdown in 2013.

Despite the possibility of global crisis, the NEDA official expressed his confidence to the whole Asian economy, saying that there is sufficient room to maneuver in order to avert a slowdown of crisis proportions.

“Asian economies have adapted quite well and in fact been the main source of world economic growth in 2012, according to a recent assessment of the OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development],” he added.