• We continue to solidify our business franchise through branch expansion and increased market coverage. In line with our provincial thrust, most branch openings are in areas outside Metro-Manila, as we target emerging businesses and rising middle class in fast-urbanizing secondary and tertiary cities.
• Additionally, ongoing initiatives serve to bolster our presence in new markets and/ or underserved segments. These initiatives include, among others, building our life protection products for our growing consumer clients, venturing into MSME lending to penetrate the underserved sector, and extending wealth management solutions and service offerings to a broader client base.
• Further, our digital banking initiatives equip us with the right platform to allow us to nimbly respond and deliver digitally-driven user experiences attuned to the needs of a technologically-savvy clientele. We have likewise strengthened our presence in social media through the Bank’s official Facebook Fan page, thus boosting our connectivity with the digital generation.
• Our reinforced core capital base via a P60 billion (USD1.2 billion) stock rights offer last January allows us to pursue business expansion plans and our medium-term growth targets.

• The liberalized entry of foreign banks and ASEAN integration are seen tightening competition across product and market segments. This emphasizes the need for local banks to build up scale to effectively compete with the bigger regional banks. Some banks may consider different options to achieve scale: grow organically, consider M&A opportunities, or forge partnerships with bigger banks.
• On the part of BDO, our priority is to reinforce our core business locally. We are focused on strengthening and building our domestic franchise through branch expansion and broader market penetration.
• Amid increased prospects for M&As/consolidation and partnerships/alliances with bigger banks to achieve scale, BDO has forged tie-ups with several foreign banks to service the banking requirements of the latter’s clients who intend to expand their operations in the Philippines and position BDO as their preferred banking partner in the country.

An integrated ASEAN market benefits the economy in terms of the following:

• A large client/market base of over 600 million consumers with rising disposable incomes.
• Regional sourcing, resulting in possibly lower supply chain costs.
• Enhanced potential for cross-border businesses and technology transfer.
• Viable areas for collaboration, tie-ups or joint ventures.
• For Philippine banks, the domestic market is still more important given low penetration rate and several constraints that prevent local banks from fully tapping ASEAN.

• We view the emergence of Fin Techs as both an opportunity and a threat. In this regard, we are open to partnering with Fin Techs to augment and round-out our go-to (digital) market strategy. At the same time, we continue to invest in our digital infrastructure to fully tap the digital generation through the delivery of digitally-driven user experience attuned to their needs. This is to mitigate potential threats posed by Fin Techs in terms of the alternative products and services that bypass traditional physical banking.

‘While we are a relatively small team, we have been active in the Philippines for seventeen years and we have a strong track record’, says Barcelona –Benitez. ‘We base our business on ethics and integrity and through our work with American, European, and Asian multinationals; we are continuing to make waves in the Philippines executive search sector. Offerings include retained and contingency executive recruitment as well as talent market mapping services. Our brand today has a strong reputation due to our long-term partnerships based on Integrity, Respect, Accountability and Quality’, says Barcelona –Benitez.

‘We encourage our employees to be proactive when reaching out to new clients and we take our time in order to make the right decisions’.

RGF Executive Search Philippines has established a fresh approach to doing business with education at the heart of the company’s engagement with clients.

‘We educate our clients regarding the options available to them as we want to provide them with excellent talent and deliver solutions to them which meet their demands. Through the work of the Philippine Association of Executive Search Professionals, transparency and professionalism is being strengthened across the industry. The combination of Bó Lè as a legacy brand and RGF as a dynamic and forward looking brand is a successful combination for us in the Philippines market. We have succeeded in major sectors such as the fast moving consumer goods, pharmaceutical, industrial, banking, BPO, retail and ecommerce/digital marketing which is an emerging sector we are actively pursuing now.

As a committed partner, we continue to offer the best executive search solutions to our clients and intend to grow our organization by hiring and investing in our own people in order to better serve the Philippines’ rapidly developing executive search industry’.

Our countries benefit from our strong ties and the Philippines and Singapore enjoy an excellent relationship. We enjoy wide-ranging relations which include trade, education, culture and the arts, cuisine, people-to-people relations and government relations. The Philippines, like Singapore, has a vibrant culture and our countries benefit from our strong ties.

ASEAN@50
‘The fiftieth anniversary of ASEAN is a significant milestone. From ten mostly small states with varying levels of development, a coherent and cohesive association was formed and ASEAN’s success lies in its inclusivity and openness. We have maintained regional peace and stability and today we are focusing on the region’s economic integration and development. ASEAN attracts partners from across the globe and we will continue to work closely with our international friends and dialogue partners. ASEAN stands for constructive collaboration and despite significant global and regional challenges, we intend to build and strengthen working relationships for the future. With more than 600 million consumers and a combined GDP exceeding US$2.5 trillion, the economic potential of ASEAN is enormous. ASEAN attracts a growing amount of FDI, reaching US$136.2billion in 2013. Growth is projected to continue at a clip of 5.1% over 2017-21’.

Future Developments
‘There are exciting economic and cultural opportunities presenting themselves across the region and we are excited about the future of the region. Finally, we are very much looking forward to 2019 when we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of relations between the Philippines and Singapore’.

www.mfa.gov.sg