Philippine businessmen head to ABAC meeting

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino businessmen will be attending the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Summit meetings in Bangkok, Thailand from Nov. 14 to 18.

Aboitiz Group president and CEO and APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) PH member Sabin Aboitiz will lead fellow businessmen in the meetings with the aim of advancing APEC’s goals.

The ABAC dialogue seeks to revitalize entrepreneurial and innovative spirit in the region, while leveraging technology.

“We must all be constantly guided by a strong spirit of cooperation not just among ourselves as member nations, but also within ourselves as individual nations,” said Aboitiz.

Aboitiz will be attending in his capacity as ABAC Regional Economic Integration Working Group (REIWG) co-chair and lead for services.

Other ABAC PH members attending the summit are the Alcantara Group’s Tomas Alcantara and ABAC Finance Working Group co-chair Joanne de Asis.

ABAC PH also includes the Makati Business Club’s (MBC) Guillermo Luz and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PCCI) chair emeritus Francis Chua.

Joining the Philippine delegation are AEV’s chief reputation and sustainability officer Ginggay Hontiveros and MBC/ABAC Phl lead staffer Patrick Chua.

The summit will officially open on Nov. 14 with a ceremony presided over by Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Supattanapong Punmeechaow.

The ABAC dialogue with leaders will be held on Nov. 18 with ABAC chair and chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries Krieng Thiennukul expected to present the 2022 ABAC Report to Leaders.

APEC chair Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will then deliver his response on behalf of the APEC leaders, according to ABAC Phl.

This will be followed by breakout sessions where the public and private sector leaders will come together with their respective expertise to discuss economic recovery, sustainability, regional economic integration, and digitalization and inclusion.

Aboitiz will be part of a group of ABAC members to be joined by heads of state and country presidents including President Marcos, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape.