FOR the past four years, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business and Investment Summit, an event held immediately prior to the annual ASEAN and East Asian Leaders Summit, has been providing business and corporate leaders with invaluable insight into the implications of ASEAN integration for the strategies of the regional and global business and investment communities. At the same time, the summit provides an opportunity for the corporate world to engage heads of government and heads of state on urgent issues that are of importance to the corporate world.
The Philippines, as president of ASEAN this year, convenes the business summit meetings in Cebu City starting on December 7 to 10, 2006, the site of the subsequent ASEAN Leaders Summit on December 11 to 13, 2006. In keeping with the conference theme "Bringing ASEAN Business to the World," the invited speakers include heads of government and the captains of major enterprises in the region and the world. They will lead discussions on regional and global issues and business dialogues that will help businesses make better decisions about their future and contribute to the development of government policies to support the further integration of ASEAN's business and investment community.
The 2006 ASEAN Business and Investment Summit has designated priority products and services in developing models for economic integration. These products and services are clustered in 12 categories, namely: Agribusiness; logistics and supply chain management; air transport; electronics; information and communication technology (ICT) and e-ASEAN; health care; automotive; travel and tourism; professional services; banking and financial services; textiles and apparels; and rubber-based products. One session of the conference has been set aside for discussion of progress made within these sectors and what needs to be done to encourage further integration. In addition to the plenary discussion, a number of simultaneous workshops will consider individual industry sectors in detail with a view to developing recommendations for further action that can be carried to the Leaders' Summit.
We congratulate the participants and organizers of the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit headed by ASEAN Business Advisory Council Chairman Jose S. Concepcion Jr. and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Atty. Miguel B. Varela and President Donald G. Dee and wish them success in all their endeavors. We welcome the foreign participants and wish them an enjoyable stay in our country. (Manila Bulletin Editorial, Dec. 7, 2006)
