Author: Chaya Ivana J. Mangussad
“An event to grow as individuals.” One would be thrilled once these words are heard. And speaking of events, the UST Economics Society has concluded an exceptional one entitled, “Business Economics Congress 2022: Attaining Equity in the Pursuit of Sustainable Growth”. It lasted from the 25th to the 28th of October 2022.
Moving onto the virtual event itself, how much more exciting could it get than to kickstart it through a webinar with distinguished guest speakers who allocated time despite their busy schedules to further empower the voices of the youth.
The first speaker was Dr. Bernardo Malvar Villegas, a visiting Professor at IESE Business School in Barcelona, a Professor at the University of Asia and the
Pacific (UA&P), and a Research Director of the Center for Research and Communication, Manila. He is an all-rounder economist, specializing in the fields of developmental economics, social economics, business economics, and strategic management. With his knowledge on the field, he discussed the Strategic Plan for the Philippine Economy, wherein he provided a SWOT analysis of our economy to track and measure our growth through the years. Furthermore, he mentioned that with resiliency as our strength, the Philippines has promising economic growth ahead and an emerging market to which we could all look forward.
The second speaker who completed the webinar was Dr. Francis Mark Quimba, a Senior Research Fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and the Director of the Philippine APEC Study Center Network. He has participated in round table discussions on issues of trade, industrial development, innovation, and e-commerce. Using his professional expertise, the topic he discussed revolved around How the Philippines Fare in Meeting the ASEAN Economic Community Vision 2025. He imparted that if we, especially aspiring economists, would like a more inclusive society and economy, we should strive to increase engagements where new businesses could emerge and youths are given equal opportunities to be employed.
(To learn more about the topics of Dr. Villegas and Dr. Quimba, you may watch the
webinar through this link: https://fb.watch/gLUV7kFhtd/)
After a webinar filled with learnings on the first day, the remaining days were made up of friendly contests open to all bonafide students of the UST Business Economics department. This served as a ground for students to showcase their mastery of economics and their artistic abilities. First, the Informative Video Making was a per year level competition where representatives would have to make an entry tackling the topics assigned to them. Second, a Quiz Bee Competition took place, covering the economic lessons that stimulated the minds of all contestants. To conclude, an awarding ceremony to recognize all who rose above each competition was held through Facebook live last October 28, 2022.
It is indeed without a doubt that the project heads, Mr. Gregory Mark L. Salameda and Ms. Justine A. Diokno, together with their team, have planned and greatly executed the event while giving their hundred and one percent dedication. It bore a fruitful outcome as it was evident that the students were able to gain wisdom throughout the event. Thus, this is definitely not the end; it is just the beginning of more events. Those that would not only build relationships between individuals with the same passion but an event that would hone the skills and knowledge of all Ka-Ekonomistas.
