When Typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines a few years ago, it disrupted the lives of millions of Filipinos. Soon after, U.S. private sector businesses and the U.S. Agency for International Development stepped up to help.
On islands such as Leyte, USAID rebuilt classrooms that can stand up to high winds and centers to help those whose livelihoods were harmed by the typhoon.
To help the economic revival, Procter & Gamble Company and Coca-Cola Company partnered with USAID to rebuild more than 1,000 local sari-sari convenience stores. After the stores were rebuilt, the support didn’t stop. The companies established a small-business leadership college, and in 2017 they launched a sari-sari store mentoring program targeting 1,000 microbusinesses.
It is one example of American companies investing — from local business to energy to infrastructure — in a manner that underpins a free and open Indo-Pacific region. “The United States is strengthening and deepening partnerships with countries that share our values,” said U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo in the State Department’s 2019 Indo-Pacific report (PDF, 1.95 MB).
Shared business values
Using the hashtag #goodbUSinessPH, the U.S. Embassy in Manila highlights business partnerships and shared values of corporate responsibility in a series of videos, including these:
- How businesswomen thrive at Ford Motor Company and Procter & Gamble.
- How Coca-Cola and Marriott Hotel Manila use environmentally friendly practices.
- How the financial firm Wells Fargo & Company, the law firm Baker McKenzie and the business services firm TeleTech Pilipinas support diversity.
- How Microsoft Corporation, Capital One Financial Corporation and the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines recruit and train youth.
- How Amazon and IBM Corporation advance cybersecurity and protect individual privacy.
The videos offer a glimpse of successful American companies working with local communities in the Philippines to establish long-term partnerships.
“Over three decades, I have seen firsthand the importance of strong U.S. engagement in Asia: as security guarantor, trade and investment partner and friend,” said U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim at a recent business conference. The United States “is playing to our strengths, leveraging areas where U.S. know-how and resources can make the biggest impact,” he said.
