The upcoming International Business & Economic Forum of the Philippine Chapter of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI-Ph) will tackle economic and market situations in the country and the rest of the world.
Citing the event’s theme “Taking the High Road to Global Excellence”, FIABCI-Ph chairman and Special Envoy to Japan Dr. Reghis M. Romero II said the topics expected to be discussed would include financial and monetary strategies, innovative marketing systems, foreign investment priorities, trade and manufacturing segments of construction and real estate development, and crisis management, among others, all in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, erratic fuel supply and price fluctuations, global inflation stemming from the covid pandemic, and upticks in US interest rates since March last year.
Among the international forum speakers, according to FIABCI-Ph president Architect Nestor S. Mangio, are Economic Research Director Lara Romina Ganapin representing Governor Felipe M. Medalla of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, director Budiarsa Sastrawinata of Indonesian property conglomerate PT Ciputra Development Tbk and president of PT Damai Indah Golf Tbk and PT Ciputra Residence, president and chief executive officer Aileen R. Zosa of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, senior vice president for Asia Pacific development Vic Toh of the Singapore-based APAC Realty Ltd and former vice president for global business development of US-based Anywhere Real Estate Inc. and Realogy Holdings Corporation, and vice president Ronilo Balbieran of the economic reform think-tank REID Foundation.
A faculty member of the School of Economics, University of Asia and the Pacific, Balbieran is a licensed environment planner and infrastructure and logistics specialist who headed the technical working group that drafted and prepared the recently launched Philippine Construction Industry Roadmap 2020-2030, and was one of the advisers in updating and crafting the Philippine E-commerce Roadmap 2020-2022.
As vice president of REID Foundation, he assists the Department of Public Works and Highways in designing, planning and implementing infrastructure convergence programs with the Department of Tourism on local tourism roads, with the Department of Trade and Industry on roads connecting economic zones and logistics hubs, with the National Defense on military facilities to protect critical infrastructure areas, and with the Philippine National Police on upgrading police stations. These convergence programs have so far implemented more than P150 billion worth of local infrastructure that would not have been funded internally by the local government units, or the limited budgets of agencies.
On the other hand, Sastrawinata, aside from being the incoming president of FIABCI-World this June, also serves as honorary president of the International Urban Development Association and is actively involved in Indonesia’s chamber of commerce and industry, real estate brokers’ association, and public listed companies’ association. He completed his civil engineering degree at the Plymouth Polytechnic in the UK and his MBA at the Prasetiya Mulya Institute of Management in Jakarta.
Having a multidisciplinary career, Vic Toh was APAC’s vice president for global development, corporate development manager of the ECG Group of Companies, and senior franchise development analyst of Burger King Corporation and analyst for marketing & analytics of APAC, both in Singapore.
As the first female president and CEO of the BCDA, Ms. Zosa has 27 years of institutional knowledge in business development and public policy, and reportedly over a decade in various posts in the public sector such as those in the Senate, Office of the President and the Commission on Audit.
Slated at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel in Manila at 1pm on February 21, the International Business & Economic Forum will precede the gala night of the FIABCI-Ph International Property and Real Estate Excellence Awards, which will be staged in the same hotel at 5pm.
Competing for gold and silver awards are 33 property and real estate projects in 15 categories — residential high- rise, mid-rise, low-rise, sustainable development, office, masterplan, environmental, retail, public infrastructure, industrial, economic/mid-cost housing, affordable, hotel, convention, and specialized/purpose-built. From among the winners will be chosen the Property Developer of the Year and the Property Man of the Year awards.
“Winning the FIABCI-Ph Property and Real Estate Excellence Awards makes the winners eligible to compete in the FIABCI International Prix d’Excellence Awards, which is globally regarded as the ‘Oscars of Real Estate’ and whose criteria involve excellence in all technical, environmental, social, economic and financial aspects of the project,” said Dr. Romero II shortly before joining the delegation of President Marcos Jr. to Japan.
Constituting FIABCI’s international membership are 48 national and multinational chapters, 90 professional associations (including the Philippine Federation of Real Estate Service Professionals Inc.), 95 public and private academic institutions, over 2,300 regular members, and around a million associate members in more than 70 countries across the globe.