Hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a platform for the country and Iloilo to attract more investments.

A Roundtable on ASEAN Economic Security: Context, Considerations, and Challenges, as part of the three-day meeting in this highly urbanized city, is currently ongoing, while the 49th High-Level Task Force on ASEAN Economic Integration (HLTF-EI) will take place on Feb. 26-27.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Allan Gepty, in a media briefing, said hosting ASEAN meetings is a great opportunity to demonstrate that Iloilo is an excellent host, able and willing to accommodate external partners.

“It is an opportunity to introduce ASEAN to Iloilo and Iloilo to ASEAN,” he said.

The event, he said, presents an opportunity for Iloilo to showcase its tourism destinations, which can promote trade, “in the same manner that trade promotes tourism.”

“And of course, very important, more than hosting international meetings, it is a good opportunity also for the Iloilo province to show that Iloilo can be a good investment hub for strategic sectors in the country. In the process, we generate jobs, we generate investments, we generate more economic activities,” Gepty said.

“It showcases that Iloilo and Western Visayas are able and willing to be integrated into the global value chain by exporting products to other countries and other economies not only in the region but also outside of Southeast Asia,” he added.

The HLTF-EI is one of ASEAN’s key economic policy platforms for advancing regional integration in trade, services and investment.

Hosting the event signals Iloilo’s growing importance in regional trade and investment, supported by significant infrastructure developments.

The Board of Investments approved in 2025 a PHP2.35-billion project to modernize and upgrade the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex, now operated by International Container Terminal Services Inc. strengthening Iloilo’s role as a major trading center in Western Visayas.

The first export shipment in April last year —15 40-foot containers of agricultural products transshipped to Singapore — reflects Iloilo’s readiness to support international trade flows and integrate more deeply into ASEAN supply chains.PNA