15 September 2018
Published also in Business Mirror
THE Office of the Commercial Counselor of the Philippine Embassy in Japan, in cooperation with the Office of the Undersecretary for the Industry Development and Trade Policy Group (IDTPG) and the Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI Philippines), organized the “Asean-Japan Co-Creation of Value Leaders Forum 2018” on September 11 at the Board of Investments (BOI) Industry and Investments Building, Makati City.
Undersecretary Rowel S. Barba of the DTI-Competitiveness and Ease of Doing Business Group (CEODBG) welcomed the delegates of the Japan Management Association, as well as Filipino trailblazer companies representing various industry sectors like logistics, retail, e-commerce, energy, mining, information and communications technology, property technology and tech start-ups. The representatives who joined the Japanese delegation were called the future leaders of the Japanese corporate world.
Director Lydia R. Guevarra of the DTI-Resource Generation and Management Service (RGMS) and Lanie Dormiendo, division chief of the BOI, presented the DTI Programs and Policies and Philippine Economic Performance and Constraints on Sustainable Developments, respectively.
In 2017 Japan was the Philippines’s top source of foreign investments and, on the first half of 2018, they placed second. With this performance, the forum aims to link the mutual interest of business leaders to develop innovative ideas that would produce new projects, products and services.
The Japanese government launched in 2016 the Co-Creation Value Program which targets to enhance the efficiency of human, financial and intellectual capital, among others.
The forum is a program of the Japan Management Association as they lead a regional study to increase the co-creation value in cooperation with the ASEAN community.
Co-creation focuses on the stakeholders who would be brought directly to the innovation process. This is part of the next-generation approach as organizations are bringing in investors to help create new products and services and deliver value in a different and fresh approach. Part of the collaboration will be social entrepreneurs, academe, the government or public sector and start-up companies.
Eight companies were part of the Japanese delegation, including Fujita Corp. Management Reform Promotion Deputy General Manager Kenichi Kawamura, Fuji Electric Co. Ltd. IT Strategy Office Corporate Management Planning HQ Senior Manager Gen Murai, Tokyu Corp. Urban Development Division International Business Headquarters Manager Yojiro Tsuchiya, Nippon Express Co. Ltd. Marine Transport Business Branch Sales Division II Manager Manabu Nishishige, Ryohin Keikaku Co. Ltd. Global Logistics Division Manager Takayuki Gosawa, Tokyo Metro Co. Ltd International Relations Department Corporate Planning Headquarters Toshiyuki Tanaka, JS Corp. General Affairs Department Public Relations Division Head Tetsuo Nakahara and NH Foods Ltd. Overseas Division Manager Takeshi Okamoto.
The inputs in the constructive dialogue will be part of their final presentation of the Co-Creation project in November 2018.
Part of the Philippine delegation were Alcorn Philippines Former VP and General Manager Ponciano Mathay Jr., Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry ICT and Innovation Chairman Bettina Quimson, Revolution Precrafted Ltd. Business Development Manager Zishan Shaffi, Make A Difference (MAD) Travel Founder Tom Graham, XVC Logistics Inc. President and CEO Corazon Curay, Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) Senior Project Manager Jake Santos, E-Magsasaka Cofounder Jose Gabriel Dimalanta, Magpie.IM Pte. Ltd. CEO and Cofounder Josephine Romero, Xend Business Solutions Inc. VP for Partnerships and Special Projects JT Solis and One Meralco Foundation (OMF) President Jeffrey O. Tarayao.
Graham of MAD Travel and Shaffi of Revolution Precrafted Ltd. made a presentation of their companies to the Japanese delegation. MAD Travel is one of the nominees representing the Philippines for the coveted Good Design Award Product and Service design from Southeast Asia, while Revolution Pre-crafted is Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing prop-tech unicorn.