Saturday, September 8, 2007

The ABAC Experience

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to interview several ABAC (APEC Business Advisory Council) delegates.We arrived at the Hilton Hotel early in the morning where we were shown to a waiting area. At first things were slow, but with short notice we were informed to prepare for our first meeting with the entire ABAC Japanese delegation.

The three delegates representing Japan are: Yukio Shotuku, CEO, Panasonic; Yoshirro Watamabe, CEO, Mitsubishi; and Yoshio Ishizaka, CEO, Toyota. They explained their different working groups and their roles within them. The challenging thing about our interviews was that they required us to think on our feet because we were given little information about these men prior. Since two of the delegates represented major automakers and the other chaired the climate change working group, the men’s perspective into business’ role in environmental issues was one of the main focuses of our discussion. Mr. Shotuku explained that developed nations are responsible within the APEC region to “take the lion’s share” when concerning the environment, because developing nations need time to develop. Being that Japan is the most developed country in Asia, their perception demonstrated great leadership in undertaking environmental issues.

Next we were told to stay seated, because we would be interviewing the former Chairman of ABAC when it was held in South Korea in 2005. Jae-Hyun Hyun was the owner and chairman of the Tony Yang Group, one of the most successful businesses in South Korea. His company had truly diversified over the years – evolving from a manufacturer of cement to a company that also encompassed investments, and finance. He also used his business as an example of how businesses must be flexible and always willing to change their product in order to meet the demand of the consumers. Mr. Hyun also offered many life lessons to our group, the most important of which was, “to have a real goal and dream, and if you really work hard, then no dreams will be unrealized.” When asked about the essence of compromise in the ABAC process, Mr Hyun reminded the group that, “nothing is full of only good things; you just have to learn how to maximize the pluses and minimize the minuses.”

After our meeting with Mr. Hyun, we were taken to meet with Sergio Toro from Chile. Mr. Toro is a trained international lawyer with experience in the Foreign Service. His first involvement with ABAC was in 2004, when it was hosted in his home economy of Chile. He emphasized how ABAC is a vehicle through which business and government leaders can have working relationships. It is essential that trade is opened in developing countries so that they may grow and develop their economies within the region.

After our meeting with Mr. Toro, we were informed that we needed to hurry down to lunch. To our pleasant surprise, we had been invited to the ABAC Annual National Center Luncheon. While we were wined and dined, we heard a British journalist give his provocative opinion regarding China’s economic boom. Following his speech, we heard from a Peruvian businesswoman, who educated ABAC members about Peru’s economy – the host for next year’s APEC Business Summit.

Anna & Elizabeth

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