How to do more businesswith ASEAN and China

Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations… entangling alliances with none.  —US President Thomas Jefferson on foreign policy

Nanning City, China — Are we aware that our Philippine entrepreneurs and professionals can benefit from the unprecedented economic opportunities of two phenomena: the closer economic integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) starting in 2015, and the inexorable rise of China as ASEAN’s No. 1 biggest trading partner — also the region’s largest source of foreign investment and tourists?

SMEs & professionals should go international, too

In this era of globalization with borders disappearing fast, it shouldn’t just be companies like SM, Oishi, San Miguel, JG Summit and Ayala that should strategically think regionally and internationally, but also small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), as well as professionals. 

Will the government and our banks support this shift in mind-set and strategy, which are crucial for Philippine global competitiveness in the 21st century?

Philippines has good presence in regional expo

Despite the non-attendance of President Noynoy Aquino at the 10th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning City from Sept. 3 to 6 due to political and diplomatic misunderstandings between the Philippines and China sparked by the territorial dispute in the Spratlys, the Philippines had a good presence with a big delegation of government officials and businessmen, led by Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory L. Domingo and DTI Undersecretary Ponciano Manalo Jr. (who took the place of dynamic ex-Undersecretary Tito Panlilio, now with the private sector).

“I could have called off everything after our five months of preparations, but we still proceeded for the sake of growing bilateral economic ties, in spite of China refusing to give our private sector delegation’s chartered flight a landing permit due to unexplained reasons,” said the head of the delegation, Philippine Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PCCI) chairman emeritus and Bank of Commerce director Francis Chua in an exclusive interview. “On Sept. 3, our luncheon, tendered by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the business delegation for 250 business delegates attending the China-ASEAN Expo, which we had prepared since two months ago, we got news from DTI on the evening of Sept. 1 that the luncheon was cancelled due to security reasons. But in spite of all this, the show had to go on and we want to promote bilateral trade. I just asked our advance party in Nanning City to quickly change the venue.”

The Philippines still actively participated in the China-ASEAN Expo, where over 2,300 companies from all over China and ASEAN joined and where a record US$19.7 billion in business deals were signed. This year, the annual expo attracted growing interest from businesses in countries and regions like the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia and Hong Kong.

Among the foreign heads of state at the trade fair were Myanmar President U Thein Sein, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Laos Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Isabela, poro point, Cagayan & Bataan promote investments, tourism

Also attending from the government were Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) chairman Rolando Gosiengfiao, BCDA president Arnel Paciano D. Casanova, Isabela Governor Faustino “Bojie” Dy III and Vice Governor Antonio Albano, DTI Assistant Secretary Felicitas R. Agoncillo-Reyes, Poro Point Management Corp. CEO Florante Gerdan, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority CEO Jose Mari “Chelly” Ponce, Freeport Area of Bataan’s Deogracias Custodio, Commission on Higher Education Commissioner Dr. Nona Ricafort and many others.  

From the private sector came a huge delegation led by Chua, PCCI president Miguel Varela, Ambassador Carlos Chan of Oishi/ Liwayway Marketing and his son, Liwayway China CEO Larry Chan, Philexport president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., PCCI vice chairman Donald Dee, Sterling Paper Group CEO Henry Lim Bon Liong and others. I was invited to be secretary general of the Philippine business delegation.

During the Sept. 3 roundtable dialogue between DTI Secretary Greg Domingo and the CEOs of top China conglomerates like Huawei and China International Water, no political topics were even mentioned in passing; a broad range of trade, industrial, agricultural, tourism, infrastructure, investment and other issues were tackled in detail, with the focus on how to boost bilateral economic exchanges between the Philippines and China. The conference hall of the Guangxi People’s Hall was filled with listeners.

On the same day and in the same venue, the Philippines-China Business Forum was also successfully held, with various government officials and top businessmen presenting Philippine trade, investment and tourism potentials to a full audience from China and ASEAN countries.

Follow Malaysia & Vietnam: Focus on economics & tourism

 PCCI president Miguel Varela said, “How to do more business and profit from the China boom in spite of our territorial dispute with China? The Philippines has already gone to the United Nations for arbitration, but I think our government should take the initiative to open high-level diplomatic talks. My recommendations? We should separate the government-to-government relationship, if possible, from the economic issues, so that we can smoothly continue the business relationship.”

Larry Chan, the 40-year-old CEO of Liwayway/Oishi operations in China, said, “I think restoring and increasing tourism would do a lot of good to erase misunderstandings and any negative impressions. Let us promote not only more economic exchanges but also people-to-people exchanges like tourism in order to strengthen the traditional good relations between the Philippines and China.”

Philexport president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Sr. said, “On how to do more business with China amid our territorial dispute? I believe we have to improve our international relations and just follow how our ASEAN neighbors with similar territorial disagreements, like Malaysia, are pragmatically handling ties with China.”

PCCI vice chairman Donald Dee said, “Doing more business with China, in spite of our territorial disagreement, we should pursue our claim, but no need to publicly insult or antagonize others. We just need to look at how our ASEAN neighbor Vietnam is handling it and how their top leaders continue to dynamically engage China diplomatically; they do not come out strongly with sound bytes but their leaders continue to promote robust commercial ties.”

Florence Foods Corp. president Henson Tiu Laurel asked: “What is the difference between the Philippines and Vietnam in the handling of territorial disputes with China? Why is it the relationship between the Philippines and China has become outright antagonistic, with P-Noy allegedly disinvited to the trade fair, while the Vietnamese prime minister appeared and gave an address in Nanning? I texted Chito Sta. Romana and he asked the same question of a Vietnamese diplomat. His reply: they stick to an independent foreign policy (i.e., they seek friendly ties with both the US and China) and a bilateral approach with China regarding the Paracels and Spratlys (while maintaining multilateral diplomacy through ASEAN), but they are also watching if the Philippine multilateral approach via the UN tribunal will prosper.”

PCCI Agriculture chairman and Hi-Las Marketing Corp. CEO Roberto C. Amores, a top Philippine processed fruits exporter, said, “For the sake of the Philippines’ national interests, we should strengthen our economic ties with China and ASEAN. It is okay for us here in the Philippines to be pro-USA, but let us always maintain peace and good business relations with China for the sake of progress.”

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