Today, we celebrated the 55th ASEAN Day at the City of Perth with numerous special guests and representatives of member nations.

We remember the long standing relations that WA has enjoyed with our ASEAN neighbours and recognise 2022's theme of "Stronger Together" where economic prosperity, social advancement, and regional peace can be achieved by working collectively.

The WAPBC would like to extend our appreciation to Indonesian Consul General in Perth, Listiana Operananta, for proposing to her ASEAN colleagues to support the Business Councils to organise this day. Special thanks to Phil Turtle, Keith Anthonisz, and David Morgan who entrusted us to coordinate this event in collaboration with the Australia Indonesia Business Council (AIBC), Australia Malaysia Business Chamber (Western Australia), and Western Australia Vietnam Business Council (WAVBC).

Our gratitude as well to the amazing City of Perth team - Steve McDougall, Yasmin Abraham, and Michael Feakes, without whom this event would not have been possible, and our Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas who not only gave an impressive speech but reiterated the opportunities for WA to continue advancing our productive relationships with ASEAN.

We had an incredible evening of robust discussions at our recent Post-Elections Roundtable held at The University of Western Australia's Business School where our stellar panellists expounded on the strengths of the 75-year Australia-Philippines relationship and discussed opportunities in #agribusiness, #education, and #resources that can be optimised through people-to-people links between both nations.

Our heartfelt appreciation to our outstanding panellists The Hon. Colin Barnett, former Premier of Western Australia, Peter Robertson Dean of UWA Business School, Sally Dawkins Director WA State Office DFAT, Anu Rammohan Director of International Relations of UWA Business School, and Fay Rola-Rubzen Deputy Director of UWA's Centre for Agricultural Economics and Development.

Special thanks to our guests from Aquinas College WA Peter Robertson, Head of Development, and John Richards, Director of Christian Service-Learning, for sharing about the valuable learning experiences of their students through the College's immersion program with the communities in Negros Occidental.

This event was made possible through the generous support of our sponsors Peppermint Innovation Limited and San Miguel.

The WAPBC was honoured to host the Philippines' Undersecretary for Education, His Excellency Mr. Alain Pascua, during his recent private visit to Perth. We are proud to showcase WA's outstanding institutions including The University of Western Australia, Murdoch University, and Aquinas College WA.

Education is fundamental to building people-to-people links between nations and supporting the economies of the region. The WAPBC is committed to creating value-added partnerships between WA and the Philippines and is currently working on a number of projects in this area. More updates to follow.

Our appreciation to our outstanding member Darlow Parazo, CPA MBA, CEO of DBA Global Shared Services, Inc. for enabling this visit, and also Balangay Philippines Limited for co-hosting with us.

Please click here for an interesting article from McKinsey & Company providing insights into the Philippines economy.