Keeping the conversation going

I’ve been traveling a lot lately, with my most recent engagement being in Adelaide to join this year’s Australia-ASEAN Business Forum. It’s steadily becoming busy as the ASEAN Summit approaches this November. One of the most important events during the summit will be the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS), to be hosted by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council.

The last time the Philippines hosted the ABIS, world leaders came to Manila to attend the summits and dialogues. These included India’s Narendra Modi, Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev, South Korea’s Moon Jae-in, China’s Li Keqiang, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, Australia’s Malcolm Turnbull, Japan’s Shinzo Abe and Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, among others. This is in addition to the CEOs of the world’s biggest corporations who saw the opportunity to directly dialogue with the world leaders. ABIS is where you go to shape policy, mobilize investment, forge strategic partnerships and advance regional priorities.

2017 was a much simpler time compared to what the world has been through since. We’ve had COVID, the Russia-Ukraine war, record after record climate events, rapid advances in AI, disruptive tariffs and the three-way conflict between the US, Iran and Israel that’s sent world economies reeling from oil supplies being choked.

Needless to say, this year’s ASEAN Summit will be host to a lot of important conversations. We sit in one of the most dynamic regions in the world, with a combined trillion-dollar economy and a young population seen to become an important asset in the face of aging populations in East Asia and the West. Amidst global conflict, ASEAN’s “centrality” makes it the platform for diplomacy among the world’s superpowers.

I expect the ABIS to be just as interesting, too, as it will be the private sector’s turn to engage world leaders. The private sector is interested in moving beyond dialogue and into actionable policy recommendations, strategic partnerships and regional initiatives.

This year’s ASEAN Summits will be set against a backdrop of crises – some visible, some lingering and others that have not yet fully revealed their long-term shape. That backdrop could easily make people conclude that it’s better to stay on the sidelines. But I would argue the opposite.

When the world is uncertain, the value of structured dialogue – followed by concrete commitments – rises dramatically. I think every business leader, investor and stakeholder must be present at ABIS and be part of the active conversation that determines how ASEAN’s economy adapts, attracts capital and strengthens resilience.

The Summit is not held in a vacuum; businesses live in the real world, and the real world is being reshaped by multiple forces at once.

There is still continued shock from the pandemic’s after-effects; supply chains were never fully restored to “normal,” there are new compliance expectations and consumer behavior has shifted. There is also persistent instability from major geopolitical tensions, which have made risk pricing more volatile and have disrupted everything from shipping to energy costs. Climate shocks have become operating realities. I heard people are now hoarding bottled water and stocking up on food in response to warnings of extreme drought in the coming months. I think this is an opportunity for the private sector to respond alongside government and redesign strategies to protect continuity of business.

Then there’s AI. Already, the conversation has pervaded almost every aspect of life. I have seen AI on the top of the agenda of almost every major meeting I’ve attended, and the impetus to keep up or else be left behind has never been stronger. If you have a stake in the future, now is the time to get actively involved in the conversation.

One of ASEAN-BAC Philippines’ contributions to this conversation is to use AI to supercharge the ASEAN Mentorship for Entrepreneurs Network (AMEN), our legacy project from the last time we hosted the ASEAN in 2017.

AMEN is based on the very successful KMME (dubbed the MBA for Entrepreneurs) and then scaled to the regional level. It has produced graduates from every ASEAN member-state, as well as built a pool of hundreds of coaches and mentors.

Amen 2.0 will be an integrated ecosystem – combining practical mentorship, accessible financing and expanded market linkages. It will be rooted in giving access to the three pillars of successful entrepreneurship: money (or capital), markets and mentorship. It will have a centralized digital platform, modular learning, integrated tools and real-time translation to aid cross-border collaboration. AMEN 2.0 will prepare our MSMEs for a digitalized global supply chain and make them part of the fastest-rising region in the world, a partner in building the world’s strongest economy.

That’s why I take every opportunity to encourage stakeholders to attend ABIS, as it will be a strategic decision for them. If you are a business leader, your presence signals that you are ready to co-design solutions. If you are an investor, your presence signals that you are prepared to commit capital aligned with regional priorities. If you are a policymaker in the private sector – through associations, chambers or investment vehicles – your presence ensures that the “implementation layer” is represented early in the conversation, not after decisions have been finalized.

Crises can pull people apart, but crises can also create momentum for reforms. The question is whether we will use this moment to accelerate the practical agenda – investment facilitation, digital connectivity, energy transition readiness, disaster resilience and human capital development – or whether the region will wait for calmer conditions that may never arrive.

ABIS is where to bring your proposals, your data and your project pipelines. Engage with policymakers not only to listen, but to shape, to build partnerships that have a clear “next step.”

Because it’s happening at such a chaotic time for the world, ABIS and this year’s ASEAN Summits will not be just a platform for conversation, but a catalyst for action. ASEAN’s next stage of growth depends on the dialogue that turns into decisions.