The Wallenberg whirlwind trip

(Conclusion)

It may have been a quick three-day trip to the Philippines of a member of Sweden’s richest business family, but Mr. Marcus Wallenberg, chairman of both SEB, a leading North European financial group with a current market value of $30.61 billion (approximately P1.7 trillion) as of March 2024, and Saab, a prominent Swedish defense and security company with a market value of $10.36 billion (roughly P580.18 billion) as of the same period, managed to pack in several key meetings on his second day.

Mr. Wallenberg was actually supposed to pay a courtesy call on President Marcos last Thursday, March 7, but due to scheduling problems Mr. Wallenberg was not able to meet with the President even as he flew in on a private jet.

Thus, his first meeting on Friday, March 8 started with a breakfast briefing with Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, who has been negotiating an important defense and security cooperation agreement with the government of Sweden that could involve a commercial deal on various defense and security materials that the Wallenberg sphere’s Saab group manufactures.

In the afternoon, the Swedish delegation paid a courtesy call on Finance Secretary Ralph Recto to discuss visions and prospects for Philippine-Sweden collaboration in the areas of trade and the economy through a memorandum of understanding on financial solutions such as export credit financing and commercial contracts, including in defense and security, should a commercial deal be secured and as part also of completing a European Union-Philippine free trade agreement.

After the courtesy call at the DOF, Mr. Wallenberg’s delegation also paid a courtesy call on Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go. This meeting likewise touched on areas of trade, the economy, health and mining, as another Wallenberg sphere company, Epiroc, supplies mining and construction equipment to local mining firms.

Mr. Wallenberg and his team also had discussions with Mr. Go on the green and digital transition, innovation and new industries and financial solutions with regard to trade, and defense and security.

Friday dinner was a more relaxed event as Mr. Wallenberg and his delegation, which included Saab AB president and CEO Micael Johansson, SEB Deputy CEO Magnus Carlsson, Sweden’s envoy to the Philippine Ambassador Annika Thunborg, Business Sweden Regional Trade Commissioner Emil Akander, met with Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual, DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy, House Deputy Speaker and Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar who attended in lieu of her mother Sen. Cynthia Villar, DFA Undersecretary Theresa Lazaro, Aboitiz president and CEO Sabin Aboitiz, Alternergy founder and chairman Vince Perez, BDO president Nestor Tan who represented SMIC vice chairwoman Teresita Sy-Coson who could not attend, and First Balfour president and COO Anthony Fernandez who represented Federico Lopez.

Mr. Lopez, along with Mrs. Sy-Coson, were co-members of Mr. Wallenberg and Ayala Corp. chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala in the Asia Business Council in the past.

Representing Lance Gokongwei was JG Summit Holdings Inc. executive director Patrick Henry Go. SMC Corp.’s Ramon Ang was out of the country and MPIC chairman Manuel Pangilinan was likewise not able to attend the dinner with Mr. Wallenberg.

Also present at the dinner were ADB managing director Woochong Um, Saab country manager Anders Dahl and country director Andrew Wilkinson, Ericsson country manager Daniel Ode, and Business Sweden Trade Commissioner Kristina Elinder Liljas. 

On his last day, Mr. Wallenberg met with the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines president Paulo Duarte before holding a bilateral meeting with Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla.

Private friendships

Mr. Wallenberg’s farewell lunch was a private meeting with Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, whose family and the Wallenberg family have been friends for years as they belong to the  top wealthiest families and have had long ties through the decades.

Mr. Wallenberg first visited the Philippines back in the 1990s up to the 2000s, with his last trip in 2017. He revealed  that he came to the Philippines quite often in those years and became good friends with Mr. Washington Sycip, as Mr. Sycip’s auditing firm SGV were the auditors of the Wallenberg sphere’s companies in the country.  He further revealed that he had made a number of friendships here over the years and is relatively familiar with the country and was thus happy to be back to see how the Philippines has grown further.

Upon his arrival back to his hotel, it was refreshing to see Mr. Wallenberg carrying his own backpack without relying on an aide or a security detail to carry his bag.

Despite his already full schedule that Saturday, Mr. Wallenberg still freshened up and wore a formal suit and tie to our exclusive interview, even as his director and senior advisor Mr. Magnus Schöldtz had already relaxed and removed his tie.

However, according to Mr. Wallenberg, “I learned through a very long life in business that you don’t get dressed for yourself, you dress for the person that you have to meet...for respect, that’s why we dress.”

In the early 1900s, he said, Swedish bankers used to wear white ties and black tailcoats, but when a relative flew to New York for training with a US bank, they learned to do away with the “monkey suit” and adopted the dark suit and tie. “So, if you work for a bank, you do not know who is coming to meet you.”