President Benigno Aquino III urged businesses and fellow leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) member-economies to cooperate in order to weather “disruptions.”
In his speech to open the 2015 Apec Business Advisory Council (Abac) dialogue with leaders on Wednesday, Aquino said there was a need to innovate in order for businesses and governments in member-economies to adapt to disruptions which could either be beneficial or detrimental.
“The effectivity of government and business is measured by how they cope with disruption.”
“Confronted by an increasingly complex, interconnected, and unpredictable world, we are all challenged to look at trends that may cause disruption, so that we can act with resilience and craft a response with inclusivity at its core, ensuring no one is left behind,” Aquino said.
Some of the disruptions he mentioned were natural disasters, significant shifts in the global economy and innovative products and services which push other companies to evolve.
Aquino said proper identification of solutions to problems and cooperation between the public and private sectors were the keys by which Apec member economies and businesses could evolve to meet the “challenges of our increasingly globalized milieu.”
“Working hand-in-hand enables us to better understand the context that we operate in, formulate the right approaches based on the correct understanding of the problems, and thus lay the groundwork for a more resilient future, one that is sustainable, inclusive, and truly fair,” the President said.
After his speech, Abac chair Doris Magsaysay Ho presented their report to the leaders, laying out concrete policy recommendations to achieve resilient and inclusive growth for the region.
The Abac Dialogue with Leaders was attended by all heads of state and representatives from the 21 member-economies of the Apec.
The leaders arrived one by one at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) and were welcomed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa.
They were first ushered into the leaders’ hall before transferring to the PICC reception hall where the Abac dialogue was held.
Noticeably absent in the dialogue was US President Barack Obama who was represented in the dialogue by US Trade Rep. Michael Froman. RC
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