Ever since Eve asked Adam to bite the apple, humanity’s face changed forever. No question, the advent of women in power is here to stay and in the Philippines, not only have women made historical inroads in government, our Filipinas are also very much palpable in our business community.

A prime example is multi-awarded entrepreneur Rosemarie “Ut” Rafael, a bubbly, energetic, dynamo who has dabbled successfully in so many businesses and advocacies, even in fields you would not normally expect from the fairer sex.

She is presently the chairperson and founding president of Airspeed, an end-to-end logistics solutions and express courier company offering multimodal solutions that combine air, sea freight and land transportation that has grown over the past 35 years to be one of the largest in the industry.

Airspeed has offices and facilities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao from the NCR, Pampanga, Carmona, Batangas, Mamburao to Naga, Palawan to Cebu, Bacolod and to Davao, Cagayan de Oro and General Santos.

A testimonial to Ut’s secret formula for entrepreneurial success, can be discerned from these comments of her best friend, another entrepreneurial power woman, Ida Manalo Joseph of the Ralph’s Wine and Spirits Group.

“Ut is like the bamboo that spends years developing its roots before growing rapidly. Her success in leadership required a significant investment of time and effort… consistently developing her skills, building relationships and refining strategies to achieve long term success… adaptable and flexible … focused on nurturing her team and creating an environment that supports growth and development.”

The Women Business Council Philippines led by Council Chairperson Ut, in cooperation with the Philippine Embassy, recently sent for the first time ever, a trade mission to Phnom Penh Cambodia to explore opportunities and exchanges of interest in various industries. I would like to share Ut’s account, in her own words, of the historic visit of an all women delegation.

The Historic Trade Mission to Cambodia

By Rosemarie “Ut” Rafael

The trade mission started as an idea between the Philippine Embassy and Women Business Council Philippines which has culminated successfully with opportunities and exchanges of interest in several key areas such as aviation, rice industry, automotive, tourism, healthcare, retail and logistics.

The Council was established in 1997 through the endorsement of then President Fidel Ramos and then Trade Secretary Ernesto Ordoñez. It was formed to provide a platform to hear about women’s issues in business and to discuss possible policies that could be endorsed to government bodies to help women in general through business focused solutions.

As an advocacy group composed of the country’s top women business leaders and entrepreneurs, WBCO is an active force in seeking to promote women-led and women-owned enterprises by assisting in giving access to funds, access to markets and digital training.

Recently, a courtesy visit to Samdech Border thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia sealed the Council’s interest to work with Cambodia in many ways including the collaboration with Cambodian women entrepreneurs, particularly areas of vocational upskilling, sharing of best practices and capacity building.

The Prime Minister emphasized that business forums would help bridge businesspersons or potential investors from both countries which can create more businesses and more jobs. The Prime Minister also highlighted that in Cambodia, Women‘s roles in the business sector have made remarkable progress and the country’s socio economic development can only advance with the participation of multiple sectors to ensure and foster the drive of national economic growth. The Worldbridge group and Chip Mong group also hosted the Philippine Women Business council to explore investment opportunities.

These meetings served as a valuable starting point to explore synergies and leverage collective strengths to drive business growth and empower women entrepreneurs in both markets. During the business forum, legal experts emphasized the importance of understanding Cambodia’s legal framework for successful operations. Cambodia generally has an open and pro business environment.

A testimonial to Ut’s secret formula for entrepreneurial success, can be discerned from these comments of her best friend, another entrepreneurial power woman, Ida Manalo Joseph.

A courtesy call was also made to the President of National Assembly H. E. Khuon Sudary and the Minister of Commerce H.E. Cham Nimble, Minister of Women’s affairs H.E. Kantha Phavi where the roles of both Cambodia and Philippines women entrepreneurs were acknowledged in growing the business in all sectors represented.

This trade mission was a first of its kind in Cambodia organized by the Philippine Embassy of the Kingdom of Cambodia led by Ambassador Flerida Ann Camille Mayo and the Women Business Council Philippines delegation headed by Chairperson Ut Rafael.

Until next week… OBF!

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