President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave the keynote during the 10th Anniversary Conference of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) at the Mactan Shangri-La Hotel in August 12.
Before her speech, the President received the courtesy call of Conference keynote speaker Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati, university professor for economics and law, and UNCTAD Secretary General Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, among others.Earlier, the President convened a strategic planning session of her International Board of Advisors, senior executives in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector, many of them representing companies with significant investments in the country.
The planning session focused on the development of the BPO sector which now employs 200,000 people in the Philippines and continues to grow amid fierce international competition.
The meeting was aimed at creating more BPO sector jobs by positioning the Philippines as a competitive location for higher value-added outsourcing activities.
These include such areas as third party logistics, knowledge management, and supply chain management.
Theme of the ABAC’s 10th Anniversary Conference was "Revisiting APEC Means Business."The ABAC conference discussed the future of the global trading system in the light of the challenges to the primacy of the World Trade Organization as well as APEC’s continued relevance to business in the Asia- Pacific region.
While in Cebu, the President discussed her plans as chairwoman of the 12th ASEAN Summit and the East Asian Summit (EAS) to be held in December.
The ABAC Meeting in Cebu marked the tenth anniversary of the business forum and included the participation of the President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and several leading business, academic and government figures from around the region.
"This 10th anniversary meeting of ABAC placed a great deal of emphasis on the importance of resolving to deliver the greatest benefits to the widest cross section of their communities".
ABAC is part of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) which comprises 21 of the world's largest economies including the United States, Japan and China, and accounts for around 56 per cent of world GDP and nearly half of world trade.
The next ABAC Meeting will take place on November 14-16 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam, just prior to the APEC Leaders Meeting when ABAC will present Leaders with its annual report and recommendation. (gov.ph)
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