Rivals by day, partners by night: JAZA on competition and collaboration

Notes on the beat

MANILA, Philippines — While they may be fierce rivals in their respective industries, businesses joining forces when it matters most is what makes being part of an organization like the Makati Business Club (MBC) truly special for tycoon Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.

Zobel, who many refer to as JAZA, considers other companies as competitors in the business arena, but views them as allies in driving progress.

“I will always be a great believer in competition and in the ability of free markets to create value. Competition, as we all know, encourages innovation, improves efficiency and ultimately provides better products and services for the consumer,” JAZA said, speaking before fellow business leaders during the 45th anniversary celebration of the MBC.

“We should continue, all of us in the business sector, to compete vigorously, and Philippine companies should aspire to compete not only among ourselves, but with the best companies in the region and actually, the world,” he added.

However, JAZA pointed out that competing with each other should not prevent businesses from working together where it makes sense. 

For the tycoon who chairs the country’s oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corp., companies can remain fierce competitors in the marketplace, while recognizing that there are areas where collaboration creates greater value for everyone.

“We can compete for customers, talent, capital and ideas while working together to strengthen the broader environment in which all of us operate. There are many areas today where this approach, I think, can serve us well,” he said.

JAZA noted that while companies would have different interests and conflicting views on policy, they can agree on many of the first principles and identify practical areas where they can all make progress together.

“We may be rivals in business, but there are many areas where our interests converge, particularly when it comes to the long-term development of our country,” he said.

JAZA’s message is clear: “As global companies diversify their supply chains, we should think beyond which company, industrial park or sector secures the next investment.”

“A more important question to ask is whether the Philippines itself is winning,” he said.

JAZA’s MBC bond

MBC, an influential business group founded in 1981, is very close to JAZA’s heart. 

In fact, the tycoon calls it an institution that has been very much a part of who he is today.

The organization was founded by his uncle, Enrique Zobel, together with a group of Philippine business leaders. JAZA’s father, Jaime Zobel, also had the honor of serving as a long-time trustee of the group.

Over the years, JAZA said the MBC has served as an inspiring and energizing platform for the private sector to engage in areas deserving of its time and attention beyond their normal business operations. 

“I’ve come to know many of you not just as partners in business and advocacy, but also as good friends,” he shared.

“I spent my early years of study abroad, both in the UK and the US, and when I came back, I’d lost really a sense of belonging with many old friends. And the Makati Business Club was really a place that I started to build business friendships at the very early start of my life,” he added.

JAZA said MBC’s founding principles are particularly relevant today, with the country entering several consequential years within a global environment that has become more dynamic, fragmented and unpredictable. 

“It is hard for me to believe these days what we’re seeing. Within our circles, we have long talked about the challenges of operating in a volatile, uncertain, complex and actually quite ambiguous world,” JAZA said.

“What distinguishes the present moment is that our institutions are exposed to several power forces all at the same time. Sometimes we’re used to getting these one at a time, but so many are happening together,” he added.

What were once largely determined by where the greatest efficiencies and value could be created, trade flows and supply chains are now increasingly shaped by national security, geopolitical considerations and the need for resilience, according to the tycoon.

JAZA also cited the rapid disruption brought about by new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, as well as the consequences of climate change.

“These next few years could materially influence our country’s development trajectory. The challenge for all of us is to translate our underlying strengths into sustained and broadly shared progress,” he said.

JAZA said MBC, for its part, was established as a forum for constructive ideas, a place where business leaders could engage on issues of national significance and put forward practical solutions for the country.

While this purpose remains relevant, he stressed that the opportunity today is to go further: from constructive dialogue toward more coordinated and meaningful action.

He said that while uncertainties on geopolitics, technologies or what the country will look like even in just the next few years, the business community can be deliberate about the kind of nation it wants to build and the contribution the sector wants to make toward it.