Collaboration with digitalization, and sustainability to help achieve a “Great Reset”

“Digitalization, sustainability, and collaboration are the three accelerating trends taking place during this great reset.”

This is Ayala Corporation president and chief executive officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala, said in his prepared keynote speech at the Mandaue Business Summit 2022 held at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel on Thursday, August 18, 2022.

The summit is part of the Mandaue Business Month 2022, the flagship activity of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), with the theme “Ushering the Great Reset: Riding of the Tailwinds of Change.”

Mr. Zobel was unable to deliver his speech since he is currently on medical leave. Instead, his speech was delivered by his nephew Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala, head of the Business Development and Innovation Units of Ayala Corporation and Co-Deputy Head of Corporate Strategy.

“Speaking of the great reset, we cannot deny the fact that COVID-19 changed our world view and decision-making process. We find ourselves in one unprecedented crossroads, learning and adapting to disruptions and uncertainties at every turn,” Zobel said.

He added that the great reset has forced “businesses to rethink how to do business and forcing us to focus on new priorities as we continue to navigate major headwinds and find ways to transform them to opportunities.”

Zobel then cited three separate movements that could become central to how businesses operate. These are digitalization, sustainability, and collaboration.

Because of COVID-19, businesses had to shift to digital services for day-to-day activities, he pointed out, adding that digitalization presents to better serve customers.

He cited as an example financial services, which saw a dramatic increase in users who transition to online payments.

“In 2021, Gcash reached P3.8 trillion in gross transactions from 55 million registered users,” Zobel disclosed. “Digitalization also accelerated the rise of e-commerce, particularly in online shopping, food deliveries, and entertainment.”

There is also an accelerated movement for environmental sustainability.

“Our persistent experiences in natural calamities have shown us the urgency with which we must respond to the ongoing climate crisis and our shared responsibility to protect and safeguard our Planet Earth,” he stressed. “It has become increasingly clear to us that the way forward is not business as usual.”

According to Zobel, the Ayala Group has committed to attaining net zero gas emissions by 2050. He then urged businesses to do their share in combatting practices that have disastrous effects on climate change.

He also cited the importance of collaboration and its tremendous power in working towards a common goal, citing how the private sector works closely with the government and with each other in response to the pandemic.

“I believe that the path towards recovery is not one we could walk alone but a journey we must navigate together,” Zobel said.

MCCI president Kelie Ko also cited the need for the business sector to unite in one goal.

“Today, we band together with a stronger resolve to make a better world than the one we are living in. Today, we are in a window of opportunity to shape the recovery of our society to make it better, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable,” Ko said. “It’s time to usher the great reset.”

MBM 2022 chair Mark Anthony Ynoc said that through the activities, they hoped to inspire the Cebuano business community to adopt and take advantage of the opportunities provided by the great reset in the new normal.

Mandaue Business Summit 2022 chair Adrian Lee expressed hope that participants learn from the speakers who shared their expertise.

“We are gathered here today to learn and hopefully win together. We must learn how to maneuver and if possible, learn and see how to transform our weaknesses to strengths,” Lee said.

Meanwhile, Irfan Qureshi, economist of the Asian Development Bank Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, said that the recovery of the developing Asia economies faces diverse challenges as various headwinds have strengthened.

These include Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine which raised the uncertainty and unsettled commodity markets.

The more aggressive tightening of the US Federal Reserve and other central banks is also raising financial instability and global recession concerns while the lockdowns in the People’s Republic of China under its zero-COVID  policy threaten growth and supply chains, Qureshi pointed out

“Developing Asia is now projected to grow more slowly at 4.6 percent in 2022 and 5.2 percent in 2023,” he said.

On the other hand, Qureshi disclosed that exports remained strong in the region while tourism is slowly recovering.

Also, he said, while headline inflation in developing Asia is rising, it remains low compared to the rest of the world.