I WAS in Beijing last week as a panelist in the first China Congress for Associations and Chambers of Commerce. This was upon the invitation of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Commercial Sub-Council, also known as the CCOIC Commercial Chamber of Commerce, and in collaboration with the China Economic Information Service of Xinhua News Agency, the China Social Organization magazine, the China Business Event Federation and the IME Consulting Co. Ltd.
About 250 delegates, mostly from China, and around 15 guests from overseas who served as speakers and resource persons, including myself, attended the one-day gathering. As CEO and founder of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE), the “association of associations” in the country, I was invited to share my experience of setting up a platform for associations and other membership organizations here.
The conference, themed “Globalization, Cooperation and Mutual Benefit,” put together in one forum the associations and chambers of commerce to exchange ideas, strategies, and initiatives in line with the new thrust of the Chinese government to open and transform the so-called social organizations in the country.
I have learned that associations in China are categorized as “social organizations,” which also includes chambers of commerce, foundations and nongovernment organizations. There are over 800,000 such organizations under the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China.
According to the China Development Brief, the General Offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and that of the State Council published a “General Plan to Decouple Industry Association, Chamber of Commerce and the Executive Authorities.” As such, industry associations and chambers of commerce would be separated from the executive authorities or their professional supervisory units in five different aspects: mechanism, functions, financial assets, management and “Party building.” The hope was that the success of such transformation will lead to national economic development, as well.
This development in China provides opportunities for associations and chambers of commerce in Asia and the Pacific to learn from each other, collaborate and undertake programs and activities of mutual benefit.
During the panel discussion in the event, entitled “Cross-Boundary Cooperation among Associations and Chambers of Commerce,” I shared with six other panelists from different countries the following ideas for associations and chambers of commerce to undertake:
- Knowledge Hub: Cooperate and collaborate in one common platform to contribute to human talent development through joint research and educational programs—The so-called soft infrastructure—under the “Belt and Road” initiative, which at this point focuses mostly on “hard infrastructure.”
- Policy Advocates: Prepare position papers and policy recommendations toward the betterment of cross-border trade of goods and services, specifically on areas such as industry standards and ease of doing business.
- Facilitators: Organize dialogues and forums to develop association governance and management best practices, codes of conduct and ethical behavior that can be universally applicable.
- Incubators: Develop markets for products and services that can be traded across borders.
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The column contributor, Octavio “Bobby” Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (Adfiap) and CEO and founder of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives. PCAAE is holding its Sixth Associations Summit on November 23 and 24, 2018, at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center. The event is hosted by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and supported by the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB). PCAAE enjoys the support of Adfiap, TPB and the Philippine International Convention Center. E-mail: obp@adfiap.org.