The global Filipino.

Byline: Peter Angelo V. Perfecto

I HAVE attended two meetings so far of the Apec Business Advisory Council (Abac). As staffer to the Philippine representatives to Abac, who include Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Doris Ho and Tony Tan Caktiong, I joined the Abac 2011 First Meeting that was held Feb. 14-17 in Guangzhou, China, and its April 26-29 Second Meeting in Seoul, Korea.

Abac was established in 1995 as a permanent body to act as an independent voice of business within the Apec process. It is the sole non-governmental entity that has a role in the Apec Economic Leaders Meeting through a formal dialogue. Hence, at the Apec Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii in November, the Philippines Abac representatives will have an opportunity to meet with the leaders of the 21 economies that comprise Apec.

At the 1995 Osaka Meeting of Apec, the …