Edmund Alan A. Qua Hiansen l 18 June 2025 at the Fairmont Makati
Assistant Secretary Neil Adrian Cabiles, Deputy Governor Diwa Guiniguindo, Nicky Mapa, my FINEX colleagues, FINEX Past Presidents and Honored Guests:
It is truly great to see such strong attendance today , and a warm welcome to our June General Membership Meeting entitled “Philippine Economic Outlook: Policy Shifts and Market Reactions after the 2025 Elections”. I extend my sincere gratitude to our Professional Development Committee and General Membership Committee for organizing this timely and crucial briefing.
Before we delve into today’s insights, I’d like to express our profound appreciation to FINEX’s year-round sponsors for their unwavering support of our activities: Noah Business Applications, PHINMA Corporation, Romulo Law, BPI, SGV, PWC Philippines, KPMG, Asticom, and San Miguel Corporation. Your partnership is invaluable.
As you know, the Philippines held our midterm elections in May. e congratulate all the winners of the election. FINEX stands ready to unequivocally lend our support to any enterprise our national officials undertake that will be beneficial to our beloved Philippines. With the landscape of our nation’s leadership now clearer, we thought it most appropriate to invite three distinguished experts to better inform our members on the economic outlook. I am sure that we will all gain significant insights from today’s very engaging session.
The global business environment is navigating an increasingly challenging landscape, characterized by heightened uncertainty and reduced predictability. Geopolitical tensions, particularly escalating trade barriers, policy uncertainty and the threat of war, are straining global supply chains and significantly impacting international trade and investment.
Locally, the Philippine business environment presents a nuanced picture of resilience amidst these global headwinds. The economy continues to exhibit robust growth, with GDP expanding by 5.6% in 2024 and projected to reach around 5.5% in 2025, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the ASEAN region. This growth is largely driven by strong domestic demand, underpinned by steady household consumption and increased government spending, particularly on infrastructure. Notably, the country has also seen a significant moderation in inflation, with the headline inflation rate slowing to 1.3% in May 2025, the lowest since November 2019, which is providing the central bank more room to consider easing interest rates and further boost economic activity.
In our first General Membership Meeting of the year, we unveiled our 2025 theme of “Shaping the Future: Leadership and Innovation in Philippine Business,” emphasizing our focus on fundamentals amidst increased volatility. A recent study by Bain and Company highlighted that during times of market turmoil, companies experience more dramatic swings in performance, with 47% more “rising stars” than during stable periods, but also 89% more “sinking ships”. This starkly highlights the vital importance of our roles in guiding our companies to be those rising stars.
During that same GMM, in response to our keynote speaker, Ramon del Rosario Jr., we also committed to be stewards of our nation’s integrity especially with regards to issues related to the National Budget. I am pleased to update you that last week members of your Board and Advocacy Committee had a courtesy call with Secretary Amenah Pangandaman of the Department of Budget and Management where we were invited to participate in the Open Government Philippines to help hold Government officials accountable and to advocate for a transparent budget. We are also exploring other areas of collaboration including supporting the Freedom of Information Bill. We will also work together on areas related to Sustainability where we committed to share the results of the CXO Sustainability Survey that Deloitte Philippines and FINEX Foundation are currently conducting. If your company has not yet participated in this survey, please do so.
We are also expanding nationally with a special GMM with our affiliate, FINEX Cebu on August 8. I invite you all to join us and meet our Cebu based colleagues. We have other announcements that are flashed on screen.
Our Ethics Committee recently shared a profound quote from H. Jackson Brown, Jr.: “Live, so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.” In this light, FINEX recently issued a statement on the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte. In this statement, we reaffirmed our belief in democratic principles and for upholding the rule of law. We urged Congress and the Senate to conduct the impeachment process with the highest integrity and transparency to uphold public trust, thereby supporting economic progress. We, along with the entire nation, continue to watch these proceedings closely.