Aboitiz to ABAC leaders: ‘People are the heart and soul of economies’
On 14 November, the APEC Business Advisory Council-APEC Summit meetings were held, with regional business leaders engaging in insightful and productive discussions.
As Co-Chair of the ABAC Regional Economic Integration Working Group/Lead for Services, Aboitiz Group President and CEO and ABAC PH member Sabin Aboitiz started the REIWG meeting with a speech underscoring the importance of workers in driving the regional economy forward.
“To foster economic recovery and boost service competitiveness, APEC economies will need skilled laborers who are future-ready, innovative, and fully capable of navigating new products and processes that will help the sector capture opportunities in new markets,” Aboitiz said.
Aboitiz’s speech echoes the Aboitiz Group’s emphasis on the importance of team members as the driving force of continued growth and success. As the Aboitiz Group embarks on its “Great Transformation” journey to become the country’s first techglomerate, a reinvigorated entrepreneurial spirit and innovation mindset is key.
“People are literally the heart and soul of our economies, and human resources have always been at the core of the services sector. We must therefore never cease to harness the power and potential of human capital, the development of skills, and the constant movement of people in order to enable our region’s speedy recovery from the unprecedented challenges we’ve encountered, and to move on toward robust growth for all our economies,” Aboitiz added.
‘We must ensure that our future workforce is prepared to meet the demanding requirements of an increasingly digital services economy.’
“This growth can only be achieved if we place sufficient emphasis on digital innovation and new and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, data science, and cloud computing. This is an absolutely necessary strategy for inclusion and resilience in services as it supports key sectors such as tourism, banking and finance, IT-BPM, and others.”
Discussing key learnings and business recommendations from the ABAC Service PublicPrivate Dialogue earlier held on 12 July, Aboitiz stressed the need to invest on digitalization, upskilling, and the adoption of technological innovations to future-proof businesses and equip the next generation with the proper digital skills.
In particular, the recommendations emphasized the digitalization of MSMEs and the easing of cross-border delivery of services as well as the movement of people. Alongside uplifting market competitiveness, Aboitiz highlighted the importance of exchanging talent in order to clear pathways to address climate change, for instance.
“We must continue creating and supporting an enabling environment through digitalization, with a strong emphasis on upgrading talent skill sets, and a renewed focus on Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics as part of education for young learners. We must ensure that our future workforce is prepared to meet the demanding requirements of an increasingly digital services economy,” Aboitiz said.
Aboitiz’s report to the REIWG immediately followed the ABAC-APEC Summit opening ceremony attended by Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Supattanapong Punmeechaow and ABAC Chair and Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries Kriengkrai Thiennukul, among other key officials.
During the five-day summit, Aboitiz, together with Guillermo Luz of the Ayala Group, provided private sector perspectives from the Philippines on business-related issues in various working group meetings and dialogues with economic and business leaders from the region.
On 18 November, ABAC members also held a dialogue with APEC leaders, including Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister
James Marape.