CONRAD MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News Service) – As the Chair of the 30th ASEAN Summit, President Rodrigo Duterte’s goal is to help fully realize the promises of ASEAN integration. The ASEAN would be the seventh largest economy in the world if it were a single nation.
Currently an economic powerhouse, the ASEAN has a combined GDP of US$2.5 trillion. According to the Asia Report of The Straits Times, the ASEAN is “predicted by some to overtake the European Union (EU) within a generation” and grow to become the world’s 4th largest economy by 2050.
Roadmap to prosperity
In honor of the region’s growing economic influence, the Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) is hosting the Prosperity For All Summit at the City of Dreams, Manila, pooling together state leaders, public sector representatives, business leaders and various enablers for micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs (MSME) development in the ASEAN. They comprise the ecosystem of enablers who will help to implement the concept of inclusivity that will impact on small businesses, and further result to the shared prosperity across the region where citizens of member nations enjoy a higher quality of life.
Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri Najib Razak of Malaysia and Thailand Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha (Ret.) will deliver keynote speeches for the more than 1000 delegates. Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc was also invited to attend.
“They will share the roadmap on how Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam did it, their formula for creating greater prosperity for their respective nations,” ASEAN-BAC Chair and Presidential Consultant on Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said at the International Media Center’s press briefing at the Conrad Manila.
Vice President Leni Robredo of the Philippines is confirmed to address the delegates while joining the summit as a panelist is current Pampanga Representative and Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“What is important is creating inclusive environment – getting big business to really help our small businessmen specially our micro and small entrepreneurs,” Concepcion stressed.
ASEAN is inclusive
In the Philippines, MSMEs comprise 99.6% of the entire business community and the remaining .4% represent the large corporations. “This is almost the same scenario in many of the other countries in the ASEAN who are more or less on the same footing in terms of economic prosperity,” Conception added.
“It is important that ASEAN remembers that the inclusivity specially for those who are at the bottom countries who try to aspire to be as successful as Singapore and Malaysia are helped by the more successful countries,” Concepcion said.
According to Concepcion, one of the major deliverables of the ASEAN in 2017 is the creation of the ASEAN Mentorship for Entrepreneurs (AMEN) network composed of volunteer mentors from each country. It is a regional network of entrepreneurs created to facilitate faster and greater sharing of skillsets, best practices and resources amongst MSMEs in the region in various disciplines including agriculture, technology, logistics and other areas.
Powerhouse speakers
The theme of the topics at the Progress for All Summit are concerned on the challenges faced by the MSMEs today. These are enabling environment, access to markets, financial inclusion and funding and disruptive technology and innovation. These are all aligned with the strategic action plans of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) integration.
“Besides the market, we will also talk about capitalization. For tomorrow’s purposes, we will be talking about non-traditional funding for capital and operational requirements,” Josephine Romero, ASEAN BAC Adviser said.
The powerhouse speakers and panelists from different industries include: Former Department of Agriculture Secretary and Founder of the InangLupa Movement Dr. William Dar, Senior Vice President Rami Sharaf of the Royal Group of Companies (Cambodia), CEO Mr. Enrique Razon of the International Container Transport Services, Inc., ASEAN-BAC Member and Founder/CEO Douglas Foo of Sakae Holdings, Ltd (Singapore), President George T. Barcelon of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Aristotle Alip of CARD-MRI, President and CEO Alex Buenaventura of Landbank, CEO and Managing Director Dr. Raymond Kwong of Silverlake Axis Group Malaysia, and Co-Founder and Vice President Mr. Jojo Flores of Plug and Play Technology Center (USA).
Speakers from the e-commerce and logistics sectors include CEO Mr. Inanc Balci of Lazada – Philippines and Executive Chairman Dr. Robert Yap of YCH Group (Singapore).
The sessions all come together to paint a distinct picture of the multi-sectoral call to empower MSMEs in the region.
“We don’t want that to happen to ASEAN”
“As we see around the world, the moment prosperity is not achieved, we see nations pulling away from their group as we see in Europe and other parts of the world. We don’t want that to happen to ASEAN,” Concepcion emphasized.
“It was very clear from the Council members that they want each and every country to rise together and nobody is left behind,” ASEAN-BAC Chair ended.
The ASEAN is now home to 227 of the world’s largest companies with more than US$1 billion in revenues.
Earlier today, the highlights of the ASEAN events include interfaces with the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and the Youth Representatives. Sub-regional meetings of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) and Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) were also conducted.
- – Caesar Vallejos
