AYALA Corp. Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (JAZA) has called for greater cooperation among businesses and other sectors to address gaps in the Philippines’ investment climate as global companies diversify their supply chains.
Speaking at the Makati Business Club’s (MBC) 45th anniversary celebration on Thursday, he said businesses should look beyond competition for individual investments and consider whether the country has the conditions needed to attract long-term capital.
“As global companies diversify their supply chains, we should think beyond which company, industrial park, or sector secures the next investment,” he said in keynote speech.
“A more important question to ask is whether the Philippines itself is winning,” he added.
He said the country needs an “honest conversation” about whether it has the workforce, infrastructure, energy supply, regulatory environment and institutional stability required to attract investments.
“I suspect many of us already have a good sense of where the gaps are. What we need are effective platforms to work through these together. This means bringing together the different capabilities that each sector offers,” he said.
He said companies could continue competing for customers, talent, capital and ideas while cooperating on broader concerns affecting the business environment.
“We can remain fierce competitors in the marketplace, while recognizing that there are areas where collaboration creates greater value for everyone,” he said.
He identified workforce development as one area for cooperation, particularly as artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies change the skills required by businesses.
He said companies have a shared interest in strengthening healthcare and education systems and ensuring that workers are equipped to participate in an economy increasingly shaped by new technologies.
Beyond attracting investments, he said the Philippines must ensure that economic opportunities translate into higher productivity, better jobs and improved living standards.
He said opportunities in manufacturing, the digital economy and regional integration would not necessarily lead to broad-based economic gains unless Filipino workers and businesses could compete in regional and global markets.
“Regional integration only benefits us if Philippine companies and Filipinos themselves can compete. The energy and digital transitions will only matter if they translate into greater productivity, better jobs, and better lives,” he said.
He also noted the importance of what he described as “social infrastructure,” including investments in healthcare, education, and livelihood opportunities that enable people to participate in economic growth.
“Social infrastructure is the infrastructure that builds people,” he said.
He said creating an environment in which Filipinos could succeed requires cooperation across businesses, sectors and the government.
He also called for accountability in infrastructure spending, saying physical infrastructure projects must be properly selected and implemented.
“Physical infrastructure is only useful if we build the right projects well—and, may I add, with every project and peso fully accounted for,” he said. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno