From blueprints for prosperity to real outcomes

Practical, measurable and grounded in reality. What policymaker wouldn’t want those?

I am still in the middle of a flurry of activity around ASEAN, mainly because it is only a few weeks until the 49th ASEAN Summit, and ASEAN-BAC’s own ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in November, where we will move beyond dialogue and deliver actionable policy recommendations, strategic partnerships and regional initiatives that strengthen ASEAN’s competitiveness while advancing inclusive and sustainable Prosperity for All.

The theme of our chairmanship of the ASEAN-BAC, “Advancing Prosperity for All,” got its cue from the Philippines’ “Navigating Our Future, Together.” We all sail in the same direction, putting people first and aiming for everyone to be able to share in the benefits. More businesses creating opportunity, more people getting jobs, more farmers earning better incomes and more MSMEs participating in ASEAN’s growth.

I believe ASEAN has made tremendous progress. The agreements, frameworks and institutions are there. The real challenge now – one we highlighted to the economic ministers as they met in Manila last week – is whether businesses can use what already exists.

Our message was that if we are to achieve an inclusive and competitive regional economy, we have to work on how people can participate, how energy and food systems supply can be made resilient, how digital platforms can easily connect trade and investment and how rules and integration can reduce friction for enterprises trying to operate cross-border.

And with ASEAN-BAC being the private sector’s platform to government leaders, we see all these through the lens of how we in business and industry can contribute.

Let me start with ASEAN’s largest business constituency: more than 70 million MSMEs, many of whom remain stuck in survival mode, unable to access markets, capital, mentorship or the digital readiness required to compete regionally.

In ASEAN-BAC, we advanced AMEN 2.0, building on a regional mentorship program ASEAN-BAC Philippines established in 2017 to connect MSMEs all over ASEAN with mentorship, markets, finance and digital readiness. We’re also finalizing the women’s economic empowerment action agenda, developing a dedicated youth entrepreneurship action agenda and preparing to launch a youth digital platform – MANA – to expand opportunities for young entrepreneurs.

The next question is scaling. Proof of concept is helpful, but we need outcomes. That is why we recommended a practical “3M’s” on-ramp for MSMEs: access to markets, money and mentorship, supported by skills, especially in digital and AI. If we want women and the youth included in growth, we should integrate their economic empowerment agenda directly into the ASEAN Economic Community’s strategic plan so that implementation isn’t optional or delayed.

Our push is toward measurability: more enterprises scaling, more jobs created and stronger participation by women and youth. But you can’t improve what you can’t measure; these initiatives can be connected to the existing ASEAN architecture.

And then there’s the matter of continuity. Institutions help carry momentum beyond one chairmanship cycle: this is the rationale for pushing for the establishment of centers for sectors like MSMEs, the creative industry and even digital and AI governance.

We also cannot ignore the urgency of securing our region’s food and energy supply. Food, fuel, fertilizer, water and the environment are one connected system. A disruption in one can quickly ripple into the others, affecting costs, production, logistics and investment decisions. This is why, after AMEN in 2017, we will adopt as our legacy program for 2026 the ASEAN Food Security Alliance (AFSA). This is based on our own experience in Go Negosyo and its KALAP program, and follows the “big brother” model of connecting major agribusiness players with smallholder farmers, fisherfolk and regional partners.

AFSA has already developed momentum, with joint ventures across member-states and partners, an investment pipeline and clustering across key commodities. We see AFSA as a working delivery mechanism, and we need to build resilience before the crisis arrives.

Then there’s digital transformation and sustainability. Common rules and shared infrastructure are crucial, but what matters most is whether businesses can use them. Can an enterprise in one ASEAN market be able to use it easily in another? It can spell the difference between governance that works and governance that is just shaping paperwork.

ASEAN integration is strongest when regional rules work at the enterprise level. Ministers have consistently asked for stronger evidence and better follow-through. So we pushed ASEAN-BAC’s model toward structured engagement and enforcement discipline, including disciplining non-tariff measures, completing the transition to paperless borders and making commitments enforceable.

A lot of policy meetings produce reports, but I believe we all aspire to go beyond reports.

On the part of the private sector, business associations and industry can identify real pain points. The ASEAN supply chain council and working groups can aggregate and prioritize them. Standing working groups can turn business signals into evidence-based proposals, connected to relevant ASEAN sectoral bodies with standing agendas, chair-level consultation and support from the ASEAN Secretariat.

Machinery alone doesn’t deliver results unless business input is continuous. That’s why we’re arguing for sustainability: standing ASEAN-BAC agendas embedded into sectoral bodies, ongoing Secretariat support and business evidence as a routine input into policy impact assessments and non-tariff measures reviews.

The challenge presented before us was to strengthen evidence-based recommendations, structured sectoral engagement, monitoring and evaluation and institutional capacity. We are taking that direction seriously and now we’re working to make that approach enduring.  

At the end of the day, we shouldn’t aim to only become more ambitious; we should aim for our plans to be usable, measurable and impactful. What this means is that we don’t stop at blueprints: we build an integrated engine that helps firms start a business, access capital, enter a regional market, adopt new technology, create jobs and grow across borders.

That’s what “Advancing Prosperity for All” must mean in practice.