World leaders and the industry captains in member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will discuss key economic issues, such as the Duterte administration’s infrastructure program and the state of entrepreneurship in the Philippines on Monday.
The “Build, Build, Build” proram and entrepreneurship will be front and center at the Asean Business and Investment Summit (Abis) 2017, the annual gathering of the pillars of the Asean business community with heads of government.
Abis is the initiative of the Asean Business Advisory Council (BAC), the representative body of private businesses in the Asean. As the overall chairman of Asean for the year, the Philippines’s representative to the Asean-BAC hold the chairmanship, as well.
The Abis 2017, which will run from November 12 to 14, will be attended by 30 top-level government officials and CEOs, as well as the heads of global think tanks. Participants are expected to reach 1,200.
Asean-BAC chairman Joey Concepcion said the Philippines’s infrastructure program, “Build, Build, Build” will be the main discussion point in the first panel of the Abis on November 13.
“On Monday three state leaders will join us: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will be participating in the infrastructure forum, and will give his own speech. He will be joined by AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes, the Ayala Group’s Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, International Container Terminal Services Inc. Chairman Enrique K. Razon, as well as top representatives of Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Asian Development Bank,” Concepcion said in a news briefing last Sunday.
Josephine Romero, Asean-BAC chairman adviser, said that given the keen interest of the Russian delegation in sharing transportation infrastructure know-how, there could be cooperation on this area.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in will be speaking, as well, to be followed by a panel on women empowerment through entrepreneurship to be led by Asean-BAC Chairman and SM Investments Corp. Vice Chairman Tessie Sy-Coson, and Hyundai Asia Resources Inc.’s Maria Fe Perez-Agudo. Another state leader, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will serve as the main panelist in a forum on money and markets, which would focus on financial accessibility for small and medium enterprises in the Asean.
“The Asean-BAC chairmen will have a meeting with Asean leaders and will be delivering their report to Asean leaders on Monday. On Tuesday we’ll be sharing parts of that report,” Romero added.
On Tuesday former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will talk about the prospects and challenges for Asean in the next 50 years, and the private-sector chairmen of the Asean-BAC will serve as reactors.
Topics on the shared economy and the digital economy will also be taken up briefly. After turning over the chairmanship of the Abis to next year’s host, Singapore, Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo will close the summit on November 14.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes
