ONE of the country’s leading private think tanks, advisory and research consultancy groups, Stratbase, is launching the Albert del Rosario (ADR) Institute on Strategic and International Studies as it enters its second decade.
The institute will be launched on November 21 at the Manila Polo Club during ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the group.
“We’re relaunching SRI as the ADR Institute to reflect a shift to a more regional outlook in our governance, socioeconomic, and other policy work and in light of the continuous rise of East Asia as a major global player whose economy could soon surpass that of the United States and Europe combined,” Stratbase Founder-Managing Director Victor Andres Manhit said.
Manhit, who will also head the new institute, said Stratbase’s research arm will still focus on crafting strategic solutions, an area where SRI has made its mark.
“In our work, it has always been clear that East Asia’s affairs have always inserted themselves into the domestic equation,” Manhit said. “There is always a great correlation between domestic and regional affairs.”
The new institute is also a tribute to current Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario who was Stratbase chairman prior to his appointment by PresidentAquino to the Cabinet.
“The ADR Institute believes that national and regional development and security can be achieved through the collaboration between the public and private sectors and the regional community. Secretary del Rosario epitomizes this vision,” Manhit said.
Makati-based Stratbase was founded in 2004 and has become a full-service advisory and research consultancy group with proven expertise in political, business and investment counseling; campaign strategy; strategic issue management and research; market intelligence and assessment; and public advocacy.
Manhit used to chair the De La Salle University political science department, and is now a fellow of the Foundation for Economic Freedom as well as Philippine country director of Bower Group Asia, which is advisor to an exclusive group of Fortune 500 companies and private-equity firms in Asia.
The first major project of the ADR institute’s senior fellows will be a three-year program on “US-Philippine Strategic Initiative,” in partnership with the Washington, D.C. based Center for Strategic and International Studies, which is ranked as the No. 1 think tank in the world for security and international affairs in the University of Pennsylvania’s 2013 Global Go To Think Tanks Report and has been called one of the most respected of Washington think tanks.
Recto Mercene
