MANILA, Philippines - The Anvil Business Club, composed of relatively younger members of the Filipino-Chinese business community who are someday expected to be the country’s next business leaders, is now known as the Association of Young Filipino-Chinese Entrepreneurs (AYFCE).
The business club formally announced its new identity during its 20th anniversary celebration at the Peninsula Manila Hotel in Makati Friday night with the theme “Linking Young Entrepreneurs in Asia: Promoting Investments in the Philippines.”One of its directors, Marcelo Co, managing director of Marikina Food Corp., said the name of the organization was changed to make it more recognizable to business communities, local and overseas..”We want to have a broader coverage. We are expanding our membership,” said Co. “We want to show our overseas counterparts what the Philippines has to offer.”
Anvil Business Club was established in Malacañang in 1991 with the late former president Corazon Aquino as inducting officer.
Membership to the organization is by invitation. Majority of the members are Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs or those who have held key positions in business institutions in the country such as the Philippine Stock Exchange, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., Steel Manufacturing Association of the Philippines, Philippine Bankers Association, Federation of Electrical and Electronics Suppliers & Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc, Philippine Association of Real Estate Brokers, Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Associations, Subdivision and Housing Developers Association, Jaycees, Wharton Business School Alumni Association, North Western University Alumni Association, and several government officials.
The organization also has linkages with entrepreneurs in Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, and China.
In the coming years, AYFCE seeks to actively promote investments in tourism, manufacturing and services.
In its official souvenir program profile, AYFCE is described as an organization “that promotes traditional Confucian values of hardwork and initiative” that aims to “encourage more business cooperation and networking among the young generation across the Asian and international landscape.”
The organization noted that 90 percent of these potential members are not active in traditional business organizations.