‘Good relations with China advantageous to Philippines, Asean’

MANILA, Philippines - Maintaining good relations with China would be advantageous for the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations to achieve economic growth, Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion III said yesterday.

“I look at President Duterte’s move towards being a partner rather than adversarial as the right step,” Concepcion, who chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business Advisory Council, said in a press briefing at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay City.

Concepcion made the statement in response to a Chinese journalist’s question on the role played by China in achieving “prosperity for all” in Southeast Asia.

Concepcion has also expressed his support to Duterte’s good relations with China despite the ongoing territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

Leaders of the ASEAN are expected to avoid directly criticizing China’s island-building activities in the disputed waters based on the chairman’s draft statement.

“It is to our benefit that we find a win-win solution towards the issues on what is happening with the building of establishments in the reefs,” Concepcion said.

He said ASEAN countries could benefit from China’s huge tourist market and financial resources.

“The relations between China and ASEAN are very important, both sides have to really work hard to achieve a win-win solution,” he said.

“We don’t really have the military power to challenge these big countries. That is almost like committing suicide. But we have the power to develop a relationship with our neighbors because Filipino people are really friendly and hospitable,” he said.

Among the ASEAN members, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims with China in the South China Sea.

Beijing has rejected the ruling of the international arbitral court in The Hague, the Netherlands that favored the Philippines’ petition against China’s claim of sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea.

Concepcion will lead the “Prosperity for All Summit” at the City of Dreams Hotel in Pasay City today.

The first four sessions of the event would paint a distinct picture of the multi-sectoral call to empower micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) in the region.

As the ASEAN Business Advisory Council rallies together to champion the development of MSMEs, the summit culminates in the flagship initiative of the ASEAN Mentorship for Entrepreneurs (AMEN) launch.

AMEN was first conceived as a legacy project by the ASEAN-BAC during its 69th Meeting last January in Manila. Through the leadership of the current ASEAN-BAC chair Concepcion, the 30 members of the council decided on setting up a regional network of entrepreneurs in order to facilitate faster and greater sharing of skill sets, best practices and resources among MSMEs.

Joining Concepcion in putting forward the AMEN initiative in the final session are Munir Majid, chairman of ASEAN-BAC Malaysia and the current chairman of CIMB ASEAN Research Institute; CEO and Managing Director Manny V. Pangilinan of the MVP Group of Companies; and vice chairperson Teresita Sy-Coson of SM Investments Corp. and the chairperson of BDO Unibank. As panelists, they will discuss their views on MSMEs, mentorship and the ASEAN.