Turning Southeast Asia’s ambitions into corporate strategy

BusinessWorld Economic Forum 2026 tackles the opportunities of ASEAN 2026 chairship

By Bjorn Biel M. Beltran, Special Features and Content Assistant Editor

The Philippines entered 2026 in a unique position. Midway through its quest to becoming an upper-middle income country, the country finds itself leading the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) toward greater resilience, connection, and progress as it assumes the organization’s rotating chair.

The Philippines, in its leadership role, is expected to shape the dialogue and cooperation among member states, and lead the region towards greater solidarity in a fragmenting world.

This chairship presents a powerful opportunity for the Philippines to guide ASEAN’s journey toward economic integration and sustainable growth while showcasing its own economic potential on the global stage.

To determine how best to translate public-facing regional policies to concrete action for the private sector is the purpose of this year’s BusinessWorld Economic Forum.

BusinessWorld President and CEO Miguel G. Belmonte

“Today’s gathering takes place against a backdrop that is both unprecedented and familiar: a global economy strained by geopolitical tension, shifting supply chains, and a fragmented recovery—challenges further compounded by political uncertainties on the homefront,” Miguel G. Belmonte, president and chief executive officer of BusinessWorld, began the forum.

“We hope to reinforce a singular truth: in an era of global volatility, the Philippines must—first, get its act together—and second, look beyond its borders to steer its course toward prosperity in step with the rest of the region.”

In his keynote address, World Bank Division Director Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei Zafer Mustafaoğlu pointed out that the Philippines has the latent ability to become region’s next economic engine, but much more has to be done in order to capture the full opportunities available.

He noted that the country’s economic expansion, which had been remarkably resilient over the past decade, was triumphantly pro-poor. The next frontier then, he continued, was productivity-rich growth.

World Bank Division Director for the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei Zafer Mustafaoğlu

“Better jobs come from more productive firms—firms that invest, adopt technology, train workers, trade with larger markets compete, and keep upgrading,” Mr. Mustafaoğlu said.

He outlined the steps needed to be undertaken for this future to be realized: build the foundations for physical infrastructure and human capital, which includes adequate child nutrition, education, and surrounding support infrastructure; streamline and optimize rules and regulations to reduce business friction; and mobilize private capital for factors with compounding effects like finance, technology adoption, and worker upskilling.

“That is the vision we should aim for: a Philippines where firms grow with confidence, workers rise with opportunity, and growth delivers higher pay, stronger skills, and a better future for Filipinos,” he said.

Building Philippine competitiveness

Identifying where exactly the country is positioned in the global market was the topic for the first panel discussion of the day, centered on the theme “Benchmarking the Philippines’ Competitiveness: Lessons from Southeast Asia’s Best.

In such an endeavor, Jestoni A. Olivo, senior economist at the Philippine Competition Commission, warned against confusing competition with competitiveness, as that misunderstanding can influence where a nation steers its economic trajectory.

“Policy interventions not aligned with a proper understanding of competitiveness can confuse market dynamics, resulting in a mismatch between the action and the problem it tries to resolve,” Mr. Olivo said, adding that well-aligned policies can create a business environment that can bring the Philippines to be more in line with its Southeast Asian neighbors.

Anthony Oundjian, managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group’s Manila Office, however, noted gaps in productivity, capital efficiency, digital capability, and the cost of doing business at scale need to be addressed for a regionally-aligned environment to manifest in the country.

“The Philippines is genuinely competitive on talent quality, service export, and the depth of its consumer markets, but it lacks on manufacturing, productivity, logistic costs, power costs, and digital capital,” he said.

To narrow the competitive distance between the Philippines and its neighbors like Singapore and Vietnam, Mr. Oundjian proposed making use of the country’s unique strengths, particularly in artificial intelligence adoption.

“The Philippines does not lack capable companies. It has the support of conglomerates and emerging champions. The question is whether we are willing to invest in the kind of corporate transformation that is capable and world-class,” he said.

Despite pointing out that the country has notably been slipping in terms of regional competitiveness, Dr. Jamil Paolo S. Francisco, executive director of the Asian Institute of Management’s Rizalino S. Navarro Center for Competitiveness, nevertheless echoed the sentiment.

“We have to dispel the myth, remove our illusions that we have to copy what other countries like Vietnam are doing. That statement is lazy. We have been growing quite spectacularly. And we have been growing because of our own. If we are not satisfied with our current trajectory, and we want to grow even faster, we need to have homegrown companies that make it big in ASEAN, not just locally.”

“Development is a marathon, not a sprint,” he stressed.

Sharing his perspectives from the private sector, Grab Philippines Country Head Ronald Roda confirmed digital adoption as one area where the country is genuinely competitive. However, that alone is not enough.

“Digital competitiveness is not simply just the internet, but the entire infrastructure—from telco towers, internet platforms, all the way to AI. The way this is measured is not simply about owning the technology. It is about how a country develops, adopts, and scales this technology to reach Filipinos,” he said.

“Ultimately, the challenge is: How do we create an environment for the next emerging technologies to prosper?” he said.

Building off that note, the second panel discussion addressed perhaps the single-most disruptive breakthrough technology today, on the theme of “Beyond Adoption: Tapping AI’s Potential through Regulation and Capacity-Building.”

Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Rhoel R. Aguda

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Rhoel R. Aguda kicked off the discussion by unpacking the nuance in how AI is commonly perceived, and how the government is maintaining the balance between allowing its responsible implementation and protecting Filipinos from its risks.

“What we really need to protect is trust. Because without trust, adoption slows down, and the benefits won’t reach the people who need them most,” he said. “At the DICT, our view is simple: rules must be principle-based and flexible. Technology moves too fast for rigid regulation.”

Speaking from his experiences working with technology-forward corporations, Ramon Chito Ramos, country leader of Deloitte Philippines, agreed.

“There is this misconception that the private sector doesn’t want regulations; we do,” he said. “But, we want regulations that are clear and consistent, not something that flip-flops every few months.”

Globe Business Marketing Head Jonathan Cristobal added his perspective: “From a private sector perspective, most organizations aren’t struggling with awareness anymore. They’re struggling with execution.”

Mr. Cristobal said that the challenge for the Philippines is how it can build the foundations—the infrastructure, technological capabilities, ecosystem, regulation and policies, and the public-private collaboration—that will enable Filipino companies to reap the benefits of this technology.

Mel T. Migriño, country head and general manager of Gogolook/Whoscall and president of the Women in Security Alliance Philippines, raised the question of how small and medium enterprises can take part, particularly as the scale of risks regarding AI use is still unknown.

“The integration of artificial intelligence into the business enterprise in this age is already a necessity,” she said. “Very few, regardless if you’re an established organization or if you are small or mid-sized, would really know how to do the risk assessment for AI. Hence, I would like to emphasize [that] the adoption of safe AI revolves around scalable agile framework for execution.”

To this, Mohamed Shahudh, country economist for UNDP Philippines, stressed the real human risks that often accompanies technological divergence.

“If there’s anything that history shows us, it shows that each [technological] wave rewards early adopters, often displacing the least prepared,” he said.

“Asia Pacific is a region that would be the ultimate testing ground for AI,” he continued. “This is a region where extreme wealth and digital exclusion are actually side-by-side. If AI adoption becomes embedded in unequal systems, the divide would actually entrench itself for generations to come.”

News5 Anchor Jester delos Santos, host of this year’s BusinessWorld Economic Forum

Regional integration of agriculture and energy

The first fireside chat of the forum touched on this exact divide. Discussing “Accelerating Philippine Agriculture in the Regional Stage,” Dr. Mercedita A. Sombilla, director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, emphasized the role of agriculture in uplifting the lives of Filipinos in rural communities, who are most vulnerable to being left behind.

“Our agriculture [should] be aligned with ASEAN strategies to perform, because this will enable us to compete fairly and squarely with our ASEAN partners,” she said.

The afternoon sessions shifted toward infrastructure and geopolitics, beginning with the panel discussion on “Philippine Energy: Powering National Competitiveness and Regional Integration,” which evaluated national energy reforms and the Enhanced ASEAN Power Grid.

Energy Regulatory Commission Director III Sharon O. Montañer brought the conversation back to sufficient regulation as the key to responding effectively to disruption, particularly as renewable energy and energy security become more integral to the Philippines’ growth.

“In today’s environment, regulation must go beyond compliance. It must be adaptive, forward-looking, and responsive to risk,” she said. “Effective regulation is not just about oversight; it is about enabling investments, sustaining market confidence, and safeguarding public interest at the same time.”

Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities Executive Director Angelo Kairos dela Cruz brought up the recent energy shocks the country has experienced as fallout from the US-Iran war, underscoring the importance of renewable energy as part of economic resilience.

“As an archipelagic country, off-grid communities and small islands across the Philippines have long faced unstable electricity and high-power costs, due to our reliance on imported fuel. With fossil fuel prices elevated, transitioning to renewable energy sources is becoming increasingly urgent,” he said.

Regarding the plans for an interconnected ASEAN grid, ACEN Group Chief Finance Officer and Chief Strategy Officer Jonathan Back pointed to the need for investments to improve the national grid first as a critical prerequisite, as the latter endeavor would be a far more optimal use of resources.

“Ultimately, it’s about resilience and about potentially lowering costs,” he explained. “While there are clearly opportunities for there to be more interconnections in other parts of ASEAN, it is just as a matter of physics. It is harder for the Philippines to be integrated into the rest of the ASEAN grid. You start looking at very long, very expensive high-voltage direct current connectors to enable that kind of thing. It’s not impossible, but it is very expensive.”

Geopolitical risks were further analyzed in the second fireside chat of the day, tackling “Strengthening Resilience amid Geopolitical Tension,” featuring Don McLain Gill, a lecturer from De La Salle University’s Department of International Studies.

“As Filipinos, we must do all that we can to support every little initiative that will help us strengthen our position and our territorial defense,” Mr. Gill pointed out.

Towards shared, inclusive progress

Part of the ASEAN agenda is empowering people in Southeast Asia by fostering social inclusion, protecting vulnerable groups, and promoting a sense of shared identity and community.

Ensuring small businesses receive equal opportunities is the topic for the final panel discussion, on “Bringing MSMEs to the Global Marketplace.”

“Not every MSME (micro, small, and medium enterprise) needs to become a large corporation immediately, but every MSME should have the opportunity to plug into systems that allow them to compete fairly, reliably, and confidently in the global marketplace,” Jayford Anthony Pelaez, chief commercial officer of AC Logistics Holdings Corp., said.

“Can MSMEs participate globally without having to build everything on their own?”, he posed, outlining the difficulties facing business owners today, such as increasing operational complexity and rising costs.

The answer, echoed by the panel, particularly by Raymund Jude G. Aguilar, chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), is a resounding yes.

“Join PCCI,” he invited attendees. “Why? We will be able to expose you to new markets. You can collaborate with new members, make your business more efficient, and we can also connect you globally to potential business partners who have been vetted by their own country chambers.”

Felino James Marcelo, president and CEO of Maybank Philippines, highlighted the wealth of resources available to MSMEs today, with their potential only limited by their own knowledge and experience.

“There are many tools out there, and you need to know where to go to for what. And the easiest place to start is join the chambers, for example, do your networking and maximize those opportunities to get the access you want,” he said.

“Fundamentally, MSMEs need to ready and prepare themselves to get the financial literacy aspect and governance,” he added.

Paul Albano, general manager of GCash for Business, further expands this point, underscoring financial literacy as the foundation of enabling MSMEs to partake of the opportunities offered by regional economic integration.

“Let’s educate them (entrepreneurs) on the available solutions and tools out there. Let’s educate them on digitizing their business, starting with payment inflows, which will help facilitate growth,” he said.

Closing the forum with his keynote address was Jose Ma. “Joey” A. Concepcion III, chairman of ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) and founder of Go Negosyo, who delivered the CEO perspective on corporate leadership in an integrated region.

ASEAN Business Advisory Council Chairman and Go Negosyo Founder Jose Ma. “Joey” Concepcion III

“Prosperity for all means keeping food moving, energy flowing, and business running, especially during times of crisis. This is why we must keep trade open, protect supply chains, support SMEs, so growth can remain inclusive and uninterrupted,” he said.

Jose Ma. “Joey” Concepcion III (3rd from left), the closing keynote speaker of this forum, received a token of appreciation from (from left) BusinessWorld Executive Vice-President Lucien C. Dy Tioco, President and CEO Miguel G. Belmonte, and Editor-in-Chief Cathy Rose A. Garcia.

“If governments and business work together, we can overcome today’s challenges, protect the vulnerable sectors, and create more opportunities, ensuring that no sector, no economy, and no one in ASEAN is left behind.”

BusinessWorld Economic Forum 2026 was presented by BusinessWorld Publishing Corp., with the support of gold sponsors, GCash, JuanHand Lending Corp., and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.; silver sponsors ACEN Corp., Ayala Corp., Deloitte Philippines, Federal Land NRE Global Inc. (FNG), Globe Business, Globe Telecom, Inc., GT Capital Holdings, Inc., Robinsons Land Corp., and SM Investments Corp.; and bronze sponsors were AppleOne Group, Inc., the Development Bank of the Philippines, East West Banking Corp., Megawide Construction Corp., Citicore Renewable Energy Corp., Megaworld Corp., Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), P&A Grant Thornton, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Philippine Business Bank, Inc., San Miguel Corp., SM Development Corp., SM Supermalls, and Toyota Motor Philippines.

The event was further supported by partner organizations, including the Asian Consulting Group, Asia Society Philippines, the British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Philippines, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, Inc., the Management Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Philippine Franchise Association, the Philippine Marketing Association, and the Philippine Retailers Association. ConSync Digital, JLCG Creative and Digital Solutions, and TED Events served as creative partners, alongside media partner The Philippine STAR.