By Ricardo J. Romulo

Speech delivered on 29 January 1997 during MBC’s 15th anniversary dinner in honor of MBC founder Enrique Zobel

Today, MBC continues with its original mission of being a Forum for Constructive Ideas. However, in keeping with the times and the advent of globalization, MBC for several years had advocated the adoption of a free market economy and embarked on investment promotion activities. Thus, we supported economic reform measures designed to open up the economy and make it more globally competitive, such as the passage of the Foreign Investments Act, the Build-Operate-Transfer law, the complete liberalization of foreign exchange, privatization, deregulation of the oil industry, foreign banking liberalization, and others.

Ricardo Romulo

On the other hand, to help attract foreign investments, we started in July 1988 the “US-Philippine Business News” and in 1989 the Philippine Business Update which featured the good things that were happening in the Philippines. These publications were distributed to about 2,000 opinion makers, business and government leaders in the United States and Europe. We followed these periodicals with a quarterly magazine entitled Philippine Business, free copies of which we give to the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade for distribution to their offices abroad. We also furnish free copies to local hotels for use in their executive floors.

During the annual visits here of members of the Keidanren, MBC has acted as their dialogue partner. Bill Luz and I have in turn attended conferences sponsored by Keidanren in Gotenba, Japan. These meetings were attended by Japanese chief executives and senior businessmen from China, the Asean countries, and Korea. For several years, MBC was a sponsor in the World Economic European/East Asian Forum held in Hong Kong and Singapore, one session of which featured President Fidel Ramos as the main speaker.

Modesty aside, MBC has become the preferred forum by visiting foreign dignitaries to address. Thus, MBC has played host to King Juan Carlos of Spain, German chancellor Helmut Kohl, Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, Dutch prime minister Wim Kok, Chilean president Eduardo Frei, Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien, and tomorrow Thai prime minister Chavalit will be our guest of honor.

Through our efforts, a number of bilateral business councils were established to promote stronger business ties between our country and key trading partners. Following President Aquino’s first state visit to the United States, the Philippine-United States Business Council was created. Since then, we have established or been asked to manage business councils with the United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, France, and Mexico. Other councils are under study. All these councils serve to strengthen economic relations in terms of trade and investments and have helped promote joint ventures in third countries.

In all these activities, we have not neglected the domestic front, particularly our members. We regularly provide them with pertinent economic data through our monthly publication of the MBC Economic Papers, and through our monthly membership meetings our members are able to hear and discuss with government officials important policy issues which impact on business. Our extensive economic database is available to all our members. We regularly report on congressional bills of interest to our members and secure copies requested by them as part of our service.

We continue to speak out on domestic issues, the latest being our stand against any amendment to the Constitution at this time. While we do not endorse anyone for public office, as I was compelled to repeat again and again a few weeks ago, we do invite every major presidential candidate to address us. Some of you may not know that the televised Presidential Debates in 1992 were sponsored by MBC, thanks to the generosity of some of our members who contributed to a Democracy Trust Fund.

Enrique Zobel

I did not realize, until Bill Luz informed me, that MBC to date has had only three chairmen—Don Enrique Zobel, Vicente Paterno, and myself. I have, therefore, had the rare privilege and honor of heading this distinguished organization for a decade. I hasten to add that the success MBC has achieved is due in large measure to my fellow trustees, past and present, the support of our members, and especially to Bill Luz, Marc Opulencia, and the other members of the MBC secretariat without whose hard work, dedication, and commitment MBC would not be what it is today—a respected voice of Philippine business here and abroad.

Vicente Paterno

The past ten years have wrought many changes, good and bad, in our daily lives. Undoubtedly, the future will bring even more changes. But, whatever uncertainties we may face in the future, MBC will always strive together with our leaders and fellow citizens to bring about a nation noted for its political maturity, economic growth, and sustainable human development.

Attorney Romulo was MBC chairman from 1987 to 2006 and has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1985

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