Aboitiz Supports ABAC Call for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Post-COVID Recovery
The Aboitiz Group has joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council Philippines — or ABAC — in advocating for closer regional cooperation to foster a business environment that is conducive to economic recovery and inclusive growth.
Aboitiz Group President and CEO Sabin Aboitiz reflected on ABAC Chair Rachel Taulelei’s statement at this year’s second ABAC meeting with APEC senior officials on reforming the World Trade Organization (WTO) as the region begins to pivot towards rebuilding its economies in a post-COVID world.
“Drawing on our own experience, we believe partnerships between government and business leaders of APEC economies will lead to a more equitable and inclusive system that will fill gaps in resources. In the same way, digital transformation and innovation play an important role in fast-tracking the delivery of trade solutions and reforms we aim to achieve for the benefit of the three billion people who depend on it,” Aboitiz said.
Aboitiz affirmed the Group’s commitment to uplift the communities and ensure that people are kept safe while they do their part in keeping the economy running. “The important lesson from 2020 is all about our great responsibility as a business to the communities we serve,” he noted.
While the WTO has always been a catalyst for regional and global prosperity, Taulelei emphasized the need to “strengthen and update” their rules of operations in order to be more relevant and responsive to stakeholders.
Moreover, ABAC is urging APEC economies to champion policies that promote growth and resilience in areas such as trade liberalization to ensure the continuity of supply chains, as well as in updating the rules of trade in the digital space as a bid to fast-track the transition to a low-carbon economy, and to encourage wider participation in trade.
Aligned with ABAC’s stance on vaccination as a vital component for economic recovery, the Aboitiz Group has signed on with other private companies to bring the COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines. Half of these vaccines will be for the government’s identified priority sectors, and the other half is for the use of private companies whose employees are economic frontliners.
“It will take a little while for our economy to regain momentum but we will do our part to ensure that we remain on the right course,” Aboitiz said. “In keeping with our brand promise of advancing business and communities, we will work closely with our stakeholders in the government and private sector as we strive to be a key player for economic recovery in a better normal.” #
