It’s the season once again — for the Stratbase Group’s Pilipinas Conference, which this year will be held on Nov. 6 and 7 at the Manila Polo Club and also livestreamed. It will be the 9th year that such a major conference is taking place.
Our organization, the Stratbase Group, has been around for 20 years. We are a thinktank, yes, but we also relish our role as a provider of platforms for sparking new ideas and fostering discussions on key issues facing Philippine society. We bring together key stakeholders from the government, private sector, civil society, and diplomatic community to discuss and shape policies that address the complex social, political, and economic challenges affecting the Philippines and the broader Indo-Pacific region.
This year, we are building those discussions around the twin themes of geopolitics and geoeconomics. These two are both crucial to the development of the Philippines and our ability to provide quality life to our people, as well as our ability to protect them. They are also inseparable.
The Philippines has distinct core qualities compared to other countries. We are in a strategically critical location with unparalleled natural resources. Aside from these natural attributes, we boast of a young, skilled, and adaptable workforce. Taken together, these advantages have long defined our potential — the only thing left to do is to make that potential a reality. We are on that track, but we have a long way to go.
A certain way to do this would be to make the Philippines an attractive hub for foreign direct investment. There are ongoing reforms to improve the investment climate, such as easing business regulations and adopting transparency and accountability in our processes. These would definitely overcome bureaucratic delays and encourage more investors to take a chance on the Philippines, not only in the capital region, but in numerous other locations as well across the archipelago.
Investments bring more than the actual amount that investors commit. They bring possibilities and the opportunity to look into the future in a more confident position. They bring infrastructure, which are long-term expressions of commitment. Infrastructure is a stated priority of this administration. Investments bring jobs, occasion consumer spending confidence, and drive economic activity. Specifically, given our innate strengths, the Philippines is being looked at as a regional manufacturing and logistics center. It could play a pivotal role in shaping the economic dynamics of the Indo-Pacific.
Central to these efforts is collaboration between the public and the private sector, as well as with other stakeholders. The people themselves are aware of how important such a partnership is. In a survey commissioned by Stratbase from Pulse Asia Research, Inc., it was found that Filipinos believe that the private sector is vital to achieving economic security. They see the private sector and government working together to promote economic growth and development by expanding livelihood opportunities (52%), making goods more affordable and accessible to consumers (51%), and creating higher-quality jobs (48%).
Obstacles to foreign investment include complicated rules and regulations like red tape (52%), changing government policies and regulations (51%), and corruption in the public sector (46%). Addressing these concerns could significantly enhance investor confidence and drive economic growth.
Working with the private sector and with civil society gives the government a realistic feel of the concerns being faced by industries, business organizations, communities, and individuals. Thus, the government can craft policies or amend existing ones so that they truly respond to what is needed on the ground.
Collaboration is also non-negotiable in good governance. Irregularities happen when one party is given too much discretion without any checks and balances from other stakeholder groups. Ideally when these different groups come together, nobody will be able to get away with self-serving acts without facing reckoning and being held accountable.
THE CONFERENCEThe two-day conference is entitled “Navigating a Complex Geostrategic Landscape: Building Resilience Through Cohesive Cross-Sectoral Collaboration in 2025.”
On the first day, we will focus on the confluence of asymmetric security challenges and their impact on the collective security of the Indo-Pacific region and adherence to the rules-based international order. The Philippines faces risks and opportunities in various areas, including aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea and proliferating cybersecurity threats like disinformation campaigns. In response, the Marcos Jr. administration has employed minilateral and multilateral approaches to strengthen and expand cooperation with like-minded partners.
On the second day, the focus will shift to strategic initiatives necessary to foster a robust economy and resilient society through the creation of green and high-quality jobs. Since 2022, the Marcos Jr. administration has implemented an Eight-Point Socioeconomic Agenda aimed at mitigating external risks and steering the economy back to a high-growth trajectory. This agenda prioritizes investments in sustainable infrastructure, critical minerals, and clean energy, positioning the Philippines as a key player in the global supply chain.
During the past two decades, Stratbase has been mindful of its unique role in Philippine society — as the top think-tank, we are dedicated to facilitating critical dialogues that include all societal sectors, aiming to elevate the Philippines’ global standing and improve the quality of life of every Filipino.
Indeed, the 2024 Pilipinas Conference serves as a call to action, inviting stakeholders to collectively shape the nation’s future and secure the Philippines’ place on the world stage.
Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit is the president of the Stratbase ADR Institute.