AmCham Philippines: The Bridge Between Filipino and Non-Filipino Businesses

The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham Philippines) was founded in 1902 and has since played a significant role in fostering trade relations and business partnerships between the United States of America and the Philippines. It is a non-profit organization that serves as a platform for mostly Philippine and American businesses to connect, network, and promote economic growth in the Philippines through Partner Search Services, Business and Government meetings, and roundtable discussions among many others. AmCham Philippines provides its members with various programs, services, and events such as business forums, networking sessions, and seminars to help them navigate the complex business landscape in the Philippines. The organization is composed of over 800 member companies, including multinational corporations, small and medium enterprises, and individual entrepreneurs. Its headquarters is located in Makati City, Metro Manila, and it has chapters across the country. With this, why don’t you join me in learning more about The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines with its Executive Director, Mr. Ebb Hinchliffe.

As a Texan yourself, how did you end up in Asia for your career? 

My first exposure to Asia was when I was an 8th grade student. My teacher at that time traveled to Japan during the summer and she showed me pictures of her trip. I was so intrigued by them that I stayed after class that day to go through all the pictures. I made myself a promise that someday I would visit Japan.

During my first year in university, I fell in love with a Japanese lady and I went to Japan a few years later after finishing school. I lived with her and her family for two years. Upon returning to the United States after working in Japan, I joined a US pump company in Texas. After working with them for a couple years, they decided to send me to start a Joint Venture in China in 1986. I stayed in China for 4 years. After this, they sent me over to the Philippines and I stayed there till 2000. After 2000, I moved to Taiwan for 2 years, then Malaysia for 2 years, Indonesia for 4 years, and then back to the Philippines. Most of my life has been spent in Asia.  

What is the American Chamber of Commerce’s purpose and what separates it from other Chambers here in the Philippines?

Our main purpose is to assist businesses between the two countries and make them prosper here in the Philippines. One does not need to be an American company to be a member of AmCham. We're also celebrating our 120th anniversary right now. This certainly separates us from any of the other Chambers since we’re the oldest Chamber outside of the United States. In addition to that, the relationship between the US and the Philippines is very strong. Filipinos tend to have a preference for American culture and its products. This makes us a very strong Chamber.   

How does the  American Chamber of Commerce help both Philippine and non-Philippine businesses?

First of all, AmCham is nationwide. We have chapters across the archipelago: in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. AmCham typically has 400+ events per year. We also have 21 committees including our Creative Industries since we believe that they’re one of the next big sectors for the Philippines. They could potentially compete with the BPO industry here. We actively promote industries like manufacturing, ICT, tourism, and healthcare among others. We also support the people within these industries. Perhaps the biggest thing we do to help the Philippines is with our advocacy: we have the Arangkada project, we have a lawyer that stands in the House of the Senate who represents us in law making, we have annual forums to assess how we’re doing, we have position papers in different topics, we do training and development, and we help create more jobs to help reduce poverty in the Philippines. These are just a few examples.

What other entities or institutions does the American Chamber of Commerce partner with and how do they align with the Chamber’s goals?

First of all, we have our own AmCham foundation. This was established 35 years ago and is a separate entity from AmCham: they have their own board of directors and is the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of AmCham. Our companies use it to promote their CSR work. For example, we have a scholarship program that was started by the Chamber foundation to help impoverished children go to school. We currently have 170 accepting scholars right now going through education that was funded by the Foundation. The Foundation is also very quick to respond to those affected by natural disasters. For example, during the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, the AmCham foundation built hundreds of temporary schools for children. We also have another affiliate called the Filipino-American Endowment (FAME), which is a non-stock, non-profit foundation that seeks to assist in preserving and maintaining concrete reminders of the common principles for which Americans, Filipinos, and their allies fought in World War II. Its activities are concentrated on generating money to support preservation of Filipino-American monuments in the Philippines. If you don’t remember, then you forget, and if you forget, history will repeat itself. We are also involved in the Philippine Business for Education (PBED), which aims to ensure that universities under the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) are producing hirable students once they graduate. Probably one of the biggest entities we work with would be the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC). The JFC is composed of AmCham, Australia, New Zealand, European Chamber, the Japanese Chamber, the Korean Chamber, and Cambodia. We meet once a month to discuss what needs to be prioritized and legislated for business interests that can create more jobs for the Philippines. These are just some of the entities that we are associated with.  

What are the most impactful achievements that the American Chamber of Commerce has accomplished? 

One of the things that come to mind would be our Business Leadership Program. This program brings in 30 3rd year university students across the country to Manila for an 8-10 day program. We introduce them to businesses and meet country managers or CEOs of these companies. They are able to immerse themselves in these companies or industries. We also have them do business plans. We try to get 10 students each per each major island group, and equally split them between male and female. We also make sure that there is no bias in university choices when identifying these participants.

Perhaps the biggest achievement we’ve made would be our legislating activity. We have a strong influence in bills that are passed relating to businesses. For example, we were able to contribute our influence to the-then President Duterte to veto the Contractual bill. Also, during the pandemic, we worked very closely with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF). We were advocating for the hospitality industry so that they could generate the income needed to prevent closings and job layoffs. These are just some out of the many achievements we have made.

What future plans does the Chamber have for the Philippines? 

To stay relevant, our focus for 2023 is to support and advocate for the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. Big tech companies like Microsoft, Facebook, and AWS will be putting on free training classes for the MSMEs of AmCham. We also have a Young Professionals group that we consult with to help the CEOs and owners of MSMEs. Since we work closely as well with the US Embassy, they recently launched a US AID program called SPEED. This program aims to help digitize MSMEs.

We also plan on expanding to Iloilo so that we will have a West Visayan office. This branch would service Iloilo, Bacolod and perhaps reach into  Guimaras and Boracay.

Ebb Hinchcliffe is the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce Philippines, an avenue for mostly Philippine and American businesses to connect and promote the greater good for business interests in the country through Supplier and Distributor Search Services, position papers, and Virtual Doorknock Programs among many others. It is also the longest Chamber in existence in the Philippines, having existed for 120 years. Its main purpose is to foster relations and partnerships between Philippine and American businesses, which is paramount for job creation, investment attraction, and economy boosting through their services. AmCham also supports various corporate social responsibility initiatives such as the AmCham Foundation, the  Filipino-American Endowment (FAME), and Philippine Business for Education (PBED). As the Executive Director of AmCham, Ebb is committed to helping businesses grow and promoting the economic growth and development of the Philippines

Visit www.techshake.asia if you would like to know and connect more with The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.