JAZA jazzes up ASEAN unity: Compete less, cooperate more

In a room filled with regional business leaders during the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, or ABIS, at Solaire Resort, Ayala Corp. Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala made a case for a skill schools, companies and governments have not traditionally emphasized enough: cooperation.

For years, he said, people have been taught to compete and build an edge over others. But the moment now calls for something different.

Zobel de Ayala, widely known as JAZA, spoke on Nov. 14 at one of the forums during the two-day event held alongside the 49th ASEAN Summit in Manila.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, is a regional bloc that promotes economic, political and security cooperation among Southeast Asian countries.

Founded in 1967 by five member states, the grouping has expanded over the decades. The Philippines chairs ASEAN in 2026.

Zobel de Ayala joined a panel titled “ASEAN in a Challenging World,” where he argued that a changing global landscape presents an opportunity for the region — but only if its members work together and build the right foundations.

He began with trade.

In his view, old trade relationships are changing, and over the past four or five years, the deck has been shuffled. The United States has become more protectionist, tensions between the United States and China have intensified, and Canada is also looking for new partners.

Many business leaders might see only risk in these developments. Zobel de Ayala said he sees something else.

“I see that disruption as an opportunity,” he said. “When old ties weaken, new ones can form, and firms in Southeast Asia can find new investors and new markets.”

That opportunity, however, comes with a condition. ASEAN has to become stronger, and its member countries must raise their standards and work toward greater alignment.

That takes unity, which in turn takes practice.

He said the rules and mechanisms for cooperation are being built, but they remain far behind where they need to be.

Making ASEAN more seamless

Zobel de Ayala then turned to a challenge he knows firsthand from his own business.

Ayala already has investments in Indonesia and Vietnam, as well as interests in Australia and India. Yet each country within the supposed economic community has its own approval rules and investment procedures.

For this reason, he said, the “first order of the day” is to create a “seamless process” that allows companies to move more easily across ASEAN countries and makes establishing investments as simple as possible.

The point matters because money is already flowing into the region.

Reports discussed at the summit said foreign direct investment — money invested by companies or individuals in businesses in another country — reached a record $246 billion in 2025.

According to the ASEAN Investment Report 2026, investment originating from within ASEAN grew 34 percent to $40 billion.

Easier and more harmonized rules, Zobel de Ayala argued, could help sustain that momentum. Different regulations from one country to another, meanwhile, can slow companies seeking to expand across the region.

Building the infrastructure for AI

Another urgent message from Zobel de Ayala concerned artificial intelligence.

He urged the Philippines and the region to build the infrastructure AI requires — including data centers, reliable power, networks and software.

He does not expect ASEAN to lead in developing the world’s largest AI models, since many of the major model builders are based elsewhere.

Instead, he said, the more important question for the region is what infrastructure it needs to allow AI to succeed — and how countries can work together to build it.

But those builders will need ASEAN’s markets, he said, and they will need engines that can work in those markets. The region can build for that need.

He pointed to Malaysia as an example.

By his reading, Malaysia has made a strong push into data centers, digital banking and software systems, while the Philippines has yet to do the same. He proposed that ASEAN talk together about the “plumbing,” a word he used to describe the basic systems operating beneath the surface.

The question for the region, he said, is what infrastructure it needs before AI can succeed — and how countries can answer that question together.

The man delivering this message has been at the center of Philippine business for decades.

Zobel de Ayala was born in Manila on 6 March 1959, and studied at Harvard College and Harvard Business School.

He joined the Ayala Corp. board in May 1987 and succeeded his father, Jaime Zobel de Ayala, as president and chief executive officer in 1994.

He became chairman in April 2006 and held both roles until 2021. That April, his younger brother, Fernando Zobel de Ayala, became chief executive officer. Fernando later stepped down for medical reasons.

Since 2022, the company’s president and chief executive officer has been Cezar “Bong” Consing, a former chief executive officer of the Bank of the Philippine Islands.

Zobel de Ayala continues to serve as chairman of Ayala Corp.

He also holds other key posts, chairing the Bank of the Philippine Islands and Ayala Land.

On 21 April 2026, he stepped down as chairman of Globe Telecom, with Consing taking over the post. Zobel de Ayala retained his chairmanship of AsiaCom Philippines, the Ayala-Singtel joint venture.

The next generation is also involved in the group. His son, Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala, is chief executive officer of ACMobility and a Globe co-vice chairman, while his daughter, Mariana Beatriz Zobel de Ayala, sits on the Globe board.

Outside the group, he represented the Philippines on the APEC Business Advisory Council from 2010 to 2015, and the United Nations named him a Sustainable Development Goals Pioneer in 2017.

AI and Pax Silica

His call for AI infrastructure comes amid a live policy debate surrounding Pax Silica, a U.S.-led plan to secure supply chains for chips, critical minerals and AI.

The Philippines joined the plan in April 2026, and the two governments have been working on a framework for a 4,000-acre AI hub in New Clark City.

The framework was expected to be signed in November, but that has yet to happen. The Bases Conversion and Development Authority said earlier this month that nothing was final.

Malacañang said it was waiting for a reply from Washington. A US ambassador said the ASEAN Summit would not be the venue for the signing, while Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said the government still hoped to sign the agreement before year-end.

A slowing economy

The summit also took place against the backdrop of a weak economy.

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Nov. 9 that gross domestic product — the total value of goods and services produced by the country — grew 2.1 percent in the third quarter compared with a year earlier.

Growth in the second quarter was revised to 2.4 percent, compared with 4 percent a year earlier. It was the fifth consecutive quarter of slower growth, the longest such streak since 2011.

Reports attributed the slowdown to weak government spending and domestic demand, while also pointing to the corruption scandal and the war in the Middle East.

Zobel de Ayala discussed the slowdown in a separate television interview, citing three reasons: an unstable global environment, high imported fuel costs and rising food prices.

He added that the central bank had been a partner in promoting financial inclusion.

Rising interest rates, he said, hurt the property business because buyers hesitate when home loans become more expensive, although other consumer-dependent sectors continue to grow.

Asked when recovery would come, he said, “I wish I had a crystal ball,” but expressed hope that the situation would begin to improve toward the end of 2027.

Search on for a new economic driver

He also made two longer-term points.

The economy relies too heavily on remittances and business process outsourcing, he said, and needs new building blocks. These could include jobs requiring a human touch, such as nursing and tourism, which are less exposed to disruption from AI.

He added that about 1,000 Ayala employees are being trained in AI.

To him, the slowdown is part of a cycle. The way through it, he suggested, is to ride it out while building new strengths.

Zobel de Ayala’s message to the region is straightforward: Treat disruption as an opportunity, cooperate, align investment rules and build the foundation on which AI will run.