ONGOING global challenges such as the Middle East conflict and the trade tensions between the United States and China are affecting the global economy, but they also present opportunities to improve trade policies, a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) official said Monday, March 9, 2026.
DTI Foreign Trade Service Corps (FTSC) executive director Benedict Uy underscored this during a pre–Asean Business Environment Forum (Abef) briefing in Taguig City.
Uy said the Philippines, as this year’s Asean chair, seeks to sustain dialogue and push for concrete actions to strengthen regional economic cooperation.
The Abef, scheduled on March 11 in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, “aims to showcase ideas and real-world practices that strengthen Asean’s position as an attractive destination for foreign investments,” Uy said.
Uy noted that the forum comes at a crucial time amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, the ongoing trade war and evolving global trade dynamics.
“With such disruptions stifling progress, the same can be viewed as opportunities to capitalize and develop new trading dynamics. Alliances that we have once viewed as unbreakable have begun searching for partners elsewhere in the globe,” he said.
He added that the forum will bring together public and private sector stakeholders across Asean.
The event will provide a venue “to work together and discuss areas where we can really concretize policy into something really tangible and something that not only the Philippines but other Asean countries can work on,” Uy said.
Among the key topics to be discussed are green interventions and sustainable development.
The forum will also tackle improving ease of doing business and strengthening supply chain flows to support the business sector and help ensure food security, he added. (PNA)