PH firms throw support behind WEF event

The local corporate sector has thrown its full support behind the Philippine effort to host the 23rd World Economic Forum on East Asia this week, when 600 corporate, political and civil society leaders from abroad are expected to gather.

Ahead of the East Asia Summit 2014 to be held in Makati from May 21 to 23, two new big corporations are joining the WEF: SM Investments Corp. and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

Conglomerate SM Investments on Monday announced that it had joined WEF as a corporate partner.

“The Philippines continues to provide great opportunities for investments. We have been committed investors in the country for over five decades. The WEF will further highlight the opportunities that the emerging Philippines offers. We look forward to the discussions which will uncover more opportunities in the region,” SM vice chair Teresita Sy-Coson said in a statement.

“It’s good to have the Forum here. First, it’s a recognition of how far we’ve come as an economy. More importantly, it gives a real perspective to the participants of what the situation is on the ground, and a good basis for discussion of the opportunities and challenges ahead,” said Hans Sicat, president of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Wick Veloso, country chief executive officer of British banking giant HSBC, said his institution was proud to be part of the WEF.

“The Philippines hosting the WEF for the first time puts focus on the country and its economic turnaround, as powerful personalities in government, business and civil society engage in collaborative efforts to shape global, regional and industry agendas,” Veloso said.

Based in Geneva, WEF is a private sector-led institution that aims to improve the state of the world through public-private cooperation in the spirit of global citizenship.

Also, SM and BDO Unibank Inc. are joint gold sponsors in the 10th Asean Finance Ministers’ Investors Seminar (AFMIS)—a key gathering to be hosted by the Philippine government on May 20.

This year, the AFMIS will tackle Asean’s growth prospects, the ongoing initiatives of the Asean Finance Process to the Asean Economic Community, and the milestones and investment opportunities for individual economies and various country sectors.

The AFMIS has been held yearly since 2004 to promote Asean as an investment destination.

Asean is one of the fastest growing regional economies in the world, and is about a year away from launching the Asean Economic Community—a common market of 600 million people with a combined GDP of nearly $2 trillion. Doris C. Dumlao