On November 11–12, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) will convene the Asian Forum on Enterprise for Society (AFES) 2025 at the Makati Shangri-La. The forum comes at a moment defined by accelerating disruption—climate instability, fractured geopolitics, and the rapid advance of artificial intelligence—and will address the responsibilities of enterprises in navigating these challenges with resilience and purpose.
Two keynote speakers will frame the proceedings. Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, is widely recognized for his leadership in advancing the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Chairman of Ayala Corporation, has been a leading advocate for sustainability-driven corporate transformation in Asia. Together, they represent the convergence of international diplomacy and private enterprise in addressing the urgent demands of the present.
With the theme “Navigating Disruption: Enterprise Priorities for a Resilient Future,” AFES 2025 will focus on the most pressing issues confronting business and society. Discussions will explore climate solutions rooted in nature, the ethical integration of artificial intelligence, the imperatives of diversity and inclusion, and the role of education in preparing the next generation for resilience. The forum will also highlight the potential of micro-entrepreneurship and inclusive finance to empower communities, while closing sessions will examine how to reinforce global supply chains and sustain collaborative commitments that balance profitability with broader social responsibility.
For AIM, which has trained leaders in Asia for more than half a century, hosting AFES reflects a mission that stretches beyond management education. It is an assertion that enterprises, particularly in a region defined by both volatility and vitality, can be engines not only of economic growth but also of social progress.
Launched in 2002, AFES has become the region’s leading platform for dialogue between business and society, convened through AIM’s Ramon V. Del Rosario, Sr. Center for Corporate Responsibility. Its purpose has always been to test the ways in which power—corporate, political, and civic—might be aligned with the imperatives of a sustainable future. For more information, visit afes.aim.edu.
