Philippine News

Being included on any list ranking the wealthiest in the country is a moment that inevitably invites celebration. But in these times when billionaires are viewed increasingly more like Lex Luthor rather than Bruce Wayne, such lists inevitably invite scrutiny because whenever the public sees money concentrated in a few hands, it raises unavoidable questions about inequality and sustainability. I have always believed that business success and shared prosperity can exist togethe

Like many Filipinos last Monday, I watched with interest President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address. It was delivered with great passion, and I admire his candor in addressing the issues that are now foremost on the people’s minds. The topic that I observed received the most applause was the issue of power rates. I suppose it is something that gravely affects all of us right now. All over the world, the cost of energy is rising due to several events beyond a

I learned early that the success of a business is rarely the work of one person alone. Yes, leadership matters. Vision matters. Execution matters. But the truth is that no company builds momentum by willpower alone. It builds momentum through relationships. In business, those relationships are what we call partners. Last week, Go Negosyo gave recognition to outstanding MSMEs who’ve shown how small companies, with hard work and access to the necessary tools for success, can sc

In my line of work – whether it’s in RFM, Go Negosyo, the MSMED Council, PSAC or ASEAN – I have observed that when things get tough, successful MSMEs innovate around constraints and continue to dream big for their businesses. This year’s recipients of the Inspiring MSME Awards are a snapshot of that mindset. In today’s column, I want to highlight how these awardees innovated and overcame challenges, and possibly give a peek into what it will mean if they scale beyond their cu

I’ve spent much of my life in business and pushing for the idea that MSMEs are not “small” in impact. In the Philippines and across ASEAN, I’ve seen the same truth: the economy is built by people who wake up early to serve their communities, then go home hoping they can pay the bills again tomorrow. Being an MSME is not easy. One of the hardest lessons for any entrepreneur is to be wrong in a way that costs money, and it’s even harder for MSMEs because they’re operating with

Every July, we mark National MSME Month in the Philippines – and rightly so. MSMEs are the engine of our economy. They greatly outnumber large corporations and employ more than half of our workforce. As an advocate for MSMEs for two decades now and myself a businessman, I feel that these last few months must have made us more attuned to the realities on the ground for our small entrepreneurs. Because if we truly believe MSMEs are essential, then we also have to recognize what

Japan and ASEAN have close economic connections, but what I experienced during my recent engagements in Japan as chair of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council brought home some realizations on how our close neighbor has impacted the Philippines, in almost all aspects of life. Of course, there are the Japanophiles among Filipinos, and who could blame them? The food, the culture, the efficiency and many other things about the country are really to be admired. As an advocate for

At around this time every year, as the back-to-school season begins in the Philippines, market vendors would normally brace for the familiar surge of parents with their school-age children in tow, looking for notebooks and pens, school uniforms and shoes, getting ready for the opening of classes. In Divisoria, the country’s biggest mass-market commercial district, this is practically a ritual. Here, it is an annual sprint, where small traders convert foot traffic into cash be

My youngest, Bella, recently wrote a piece about what it’s like to be Joey Concepcion’s daughter. In it, she put in writing her thoughts and observations on what makes me tick. She recounted things that I thought would have passed unnoticed, but nevertheless made a mark on her young mind. I shouldn’t be surprised, really. Bella soaks up information like a sponge. She is keenly observant and wise beyond her years. Her observations are so surprising that I sometimes forget how

Why is it that most micro and small entrepreneurs (MSEs) rarely seem to scale up? Successful MSEs – those who eventually grow into medium or large enterprises – have shown that scaling is possible. Yet, for many entrepreneurs, it remains the exception rather than the rule. The question is not whether scaling can happen. It’s why it so often doesn’t. One explanation offered – especially in the Philippine context – is that many MSE owners are simply content as long as they are

It’s been more than a week since the ASEAN Summit and our own ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) meetings in Cebu and Boracay. But the work doesn’t stop at the big national meetings; it will continue throughout the year, up until the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in November. In the next few days, in fact, I will go and meet with business organizations and more private sector partners from the region as part of my duties as this year’s chair of the ASEAN-BAC.

When I look back at the ASEAN Business Advisory Council’s 106th Council Meeting and Second Retreat last May 10 and 11 in Boracay, I will remember how quickly we became more than delegates with shared agendas and how we started to become an ASEAN team in the truest sense. Yes, we held our council meetings, but the meetings were only part of the work. What made this truly special was what came alongside it: the bonding moments, the evenings where we got to know one another well

Last week, I spoke about how my father, Jose “Joecon” Concepcion Jr., advocated for a stronger role for the private sector in advancing the growth of the ASEAN economies. He believed the region must act as one if it is to boost regional competitiveness – and if every member-country is to grow in step with the others. To do that, each country must identify its economic strengths, align ASEAN’s collective efforts around those strengths and then build mutual support through trad

This week, the Philippines will host one of the most important international events in a decade: the 48th ASEAN Summit. It has been a fast and demanding lead-up, not only for those of us in the private sector-led ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), but also for our counterparts across the Philippine government. To align with the momentum of the Summit, we scheduled our own ASEAN-BAC council meetings around it, with an efficient hop over the weekend from Cebu – where

Job numbers from the Philippine Statistics Authority show our country at an economic crossroads. Working-age Filipinos (15 and older) now make up more than half of the total, while the number of those working to support younger Filipinos continues its marked decline to less than 50 percent from more than 90 percent back in the 1960s. This demographic sweet spot, often termed the “demographic dividend,” presents a rare opportunity to accelerate national development. However, t

As the Philippines once again hosts the ASEAN Summit, it will be easy for people to reduce the event to yet another public event and more traffic on the roads. I choose to think it ought to be different. Every ASEAN hosting is especially significant because it comes only once every 11 years. It’s one chance in more than a decade to place the Philippines at the center of the region’s attention, to shape the agenda, and to turn regional cooperation into tangible gains for our p

The US/Israel-Iran war now dominates risk assessments and scenario planning for the private sector in Southeast Asia. This, alongside the harsher reality of inflation spikes and uncertainty, is eroding margins, delaying investment decisions and complicating day-to-day business operations. This matters for ASEAN not only because geopolitical tensions are global, but because their impacts are immediate. Much of Southeast Asia is highly dependent on oil shipments that originate

The days after Easter always seem brighter. There’s a sense of renewal, hope and new beginnings – even in times of crisis such as the one we are all experiencing now. I realize that it’s not about the current state of affairs. Those are fleeting and will resolve in ways that we may or may not be able to control. It’s about the traditions that ground us. When traditions are passed down, they reinforce the values that we want to teach the next generation. In our family, busines

When I talk about MSMEs, I see them as more than economic units but also as engines of social change. Nowhere is this clearer than in the growing number of women-led MSMEs across the Philippines – entrepreneurs who not only create jobs and products, but also uplift communities and expand our perception of women’s roles in households, communities and the nation. Consider the diversity and impact already on display among the 10 ladies who were awarded this year’s Go Negosyo Ins

I was sitting down for an interview with Jeron Travel and Tours CEO and suking Go Negosyo events host Chal Lontoc-Del Rosario last week when she sprung upon me some bombshell news: my daughters Monica, Margarita and Isabella were to be on the show with her the following week. Of course, I laughed and chided myself for not being on top of current events such as these, but I was nonetheless a mixture of pride and amusement that my three girls would be on TV. I made a mental not