By ELLEN TORDESILLAS
PRESIDENT Aquino has appointed three prominent Filipino businessmen to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Philippines to represent the country in the two-day APEC CEO summit in Yokohama, Japan that will precede the APEC leaders meeting on Nov. 13 and 14.
Appointed last week were Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman and chief executive officer of Ayala Corp., Doris Magsaysay Ho, president and CEO of the Magsaysay Group of Companies, which is involved in shipping and human resources services; and Tony Tan Caktiong, founder and current chairman and CEO of the fastfood chain Jollibee.
Former Foreign Secretary Roberto R. Romulo, founding ABAC chairman, resigned as chair of ABAC Philippines before President Arroyo’s term ended last June.
The three Aquino appointees will be co-equal as in the practice of other countries.
Established during the 1995 APEC Leaders meeting in Manila, ABAC is composed of CEOs from the 21 member economies. They advise the leaders on the business sector’s priorities and concerns. The CEO summit will be held on Nov. 12 and 13, also in Yokohama.
APEC is a forum of Asia Pacific economies to facilitate economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the region. The word “economies” is used instead of “countries” as Hong Kong and Taiwan each have separate seats from the People’s Republic of China in the forum.
APEC member economies are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. They account for 40.5 percent 1 of the world’s population, 54.2 percent of world GDP and 43.7 percent of world trade.
Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Antonio Rodriguez said Thursday the appreciation of currencies in the region is among the issues that will be taken up during the 18th APEC Leaders summit.