CEOs look back on eventful 2024, look forward to a better 2025

(Sixth of a series)

1. Sandeep Uppal

President and CEO

HSBC Philippines

2024 was a good busy year for HSBC Philippines as we launched new products, achieved milestones and closed landmark deals, helping us remain focused in serving the needs of our customers as we’ve done so since 1875.

We are so delighted that, through multiple prestigious awards, we have been recognized as the leading full-serviced international bank—being named as Philippines’ Best International Bank and Philippines’ Best Private Bank by Euromoney; Philippines’ International Cash Management Bank of the year, Philippines’ International Trade Finance Bank of the year, and for the fourth year in a row, Philippines’ International Retail Bank of the Year by Asian Banking and Finance, among many recognitions we’ve received.

In addition to our accolades, we continue to support nation building, as our contribution to our home for close to 150 years.

Among a number of initiatives, we signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine Export Procession Zone Authority (Peza) to help drive foreign investments in the Philippines and recently, we brought a delegation from Peza to key cities in India to explore opportunities in pharma and IT to benefit PH health-care system and address employment. Additionally, we have been actively supporting ROP in raising funds overseas through bonds and participating in the various Philippine economic briefings across the globe.

This supports our efforts toward nation building as we prosper when Philippines prospers.

We are even more excited for 2025 as we will be celebrating our 150th year in the Philippines, filled with more opportunities for growth and excellence.

We are as optimistic of our growth prospects in the Philippines as we were way back in 1875.

While we will continue to bridge Philippines to the world, we also understand our customers have evolving needs to unlock their potential.

Both in retail and corporate, we will continue to provide digital tools and solutions to support their banking and wealth needs, making it easier for our customers to bank and grow their wealth with us. Having said that, we do understand that our customers’ wish for digital to be complemented by “human touch” and “personalized service” and we thus we will ensure that these go hand in hand.

We remain steadfastly committed to the Philippines and continue to capitalize on our strength as an international bank that has been here for almost 150 years, bridging our customers here and abroad to opportunities across borders, combining an international mindset with local expertise to help them overcome financial challenges.

We look forward to supporting them in their growth and expansion journeys and to provide them with the right banking solutions to capture the opportunities in the region’s fast-growing digital economy.

We want to be known as not only the leading international bank, but also the most respected bank in the country.

2. Fredy Ong

Chairman and CEO

Unilever Philippines

2024 was a year of transformative growth marked by changes across the organization and the way we do business as aligned with Unilever’s Growth Action Plan.

It is also my first year as Unilever Philippines chair and CEO, and along with other members of the Philippines leadership team, we took the charge on setting the stage to deliver best-in-class performance through our market-making, unmissably superior brands.

We navigated economic headwinds, shifting consumer demands, and an increasingly competitive landscape.

There was unlearning and learning, building trust and building teams, and more importantly, going back to our core of delivering superior products, services and value to our stakeholders.

The best thing about 2024 was witnessing the passion, resilience and ingenuity of our teams, who worked tirelessly with our partners across our value chain to bring our brands to every Filipino home.

I am filled with gratitude and pride for what our team has accomplished together.

From introducing products tailored to Filipino needs to streamlining operations and leveraging on artificial intelligence for greater efficiency, together, we made significant strides toward sustainable growth.

As we turn the page to 2025, I am excited to take on an expanded role as Foods general manager for Greater Asia, on top of my current roles as head of customer development and chair and CEO of Unilever Philippines.

This new chapter allows me to scale the successes of the Philippines and further drive Unilever’s purpose across a broader region.

[This] year, I look forward to making tangible steps toward our sustainability goals, launching innovations that inspire and delight, and strengthening partnerships to create shared value.

Guided by our renewed purpose to “brighten everyday life for all,” I am confident that 2025 will be a year of growth, impact and even greater possibilities.