EJ QUA HIANSEN l March 7, 2023 l Manila Bulletin
I recently attended the first of Makati Business Club’s “F2F with Cab Secs” series featuring Secretary Diokno of the Department of Finance at the Makati Diamond Hotel. One of my key takeaways is his belief that the Philippine economy is more resilient because of our demographic dividend, where we have one of the world’s youngest populations. This will support economic growth in coming years as that young population enters the workforce and increases consumption spending. However, this demographic dividend will only be maximized if that young workforce is properly educated with the right technical and soft skills to improve their employability and their productivity. A good education improves social mobility, providing students with the chance to uplift the quality of life of their families. Education is the foundation for sustained, multi-generational economic growth in the Philippines.
From the point of view of the business community, people should be considered our most valuable resource. As Ben Bernanke, former Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United States, said, “No economy can succeed without a high-quality workforce, particularly in an age of globalization and technical change.” We need to be able to adapt as technology drives rapid advancement in the finance function.
My parents instilled the value of a good education in my siblings and me from a very young age. I consider myself fortunate to have been sent to study at very good schools and to learn from some of the best mentors. As a result, the Junior FINEX (JFINEX) Committee of the FINEX Research & Development Foundation was the first committee that I joined in FINEX. Joining JFINEX has furthered my professional education as it has exposed me to many passionate, experienced finance executives including many past Presidents of FINEX. Our objective is to be the vehicle of FINEX to enrich the school-based knowledge of future business and finance leaders for the betterment of society.
Our focus in 2022 was to improve engagement with student leaders and to develop programs that would further their education. Early in the year, we met with more than 20 student leaders from different partner schools, and they expressed a strong desire for JFINEX to help with their career development and to reinstitute the Intercollegiate Finance Competition (ICFC).
To address the desire for career advice, we partnered with the Young Finance Officers Committee, to host a webinar entitled “The Transformative Power of Finance in Life and Business” for FINEX Week. Our keynote speaker was Edmund Lee, the President and CEO of Caylum Trading Institute. We had a multi-sectoral panel including Jeng Pascual, former Pilipinas Shell CFO and a former FINEX CFO of the Year Awardee, Atty. Mark Gorriceta, the Managing Partner of Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra, and Joann Dizon, an expert HR practioner. It was an engaging discussion which allowed us to view the required job skills and competencies from many, different angles.
In partnership with JP Morgan Chase & Co., we successfully held our 22nd ICFC. The ICFC is a knowledge-based academic competition for finance, banking, and economics that aims to find the best finance teams from our partner colleges and universities. 53 schools participated in our nationwide elimination round while 21 schools participated in our final round that was held on the trading floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange. Ultimately the University of the Philippines – Diliman emerged as the champion but we were also happy to note that a record number of schools from outside of Metro Manila qualified for the finals. The ICFC competition was automated by the NOAH systems applications through its Technology Partner, Forecasting and Planning Technology Inc. (FPTI). The competition was conducted under the supervision of our official Audit Partner, PwC | Isla Lipana & Co. We are also grateful to our Knowledge Partners, the CFA Society of the Philippines and IMA Philippines, for assisting in creating the test bank and serving as judges.
Looking forward to 2023, we have even more exciting plans to further deepen our relationship with our partner schools. We aim to have more participants in ICFC so that we can really identify the best of the best. We are resuming our campus tours with at least three planned for this calendar year. We also have plans for a JFINEX Congress and a JFINEX Conference. The campus tours, the Congress and Conference are all venues for us to interact with students while helping to sharpen their professional skills.
Enhanced engagement and mentorship will enable us to transfer knowledge to the next generation. Based on our interactions, the students are bright and hungry to learn. JFINEX will do our part to make sure that they are equipped to perform to the best of their abilities and to the highest standard of ethics.
*** EJ Qua Hiansen is the Deputy Group CFO of PHINMA Corp. and Chairman of the Junior FINEX Committee of the FINEX Research & Development Foundation. All views expressed are his own.