MANILA - Millennials should "balance" their intelligence with their emotions and work abroad to broaden their perspective, leaders of two of the country's largest conglomerates said Friday.

PLDT Inc. chairman Manuel Pangilinan and SM Investment Corp. vice chairman Teresita Sy-Coson spoke at the “Prosperity for All Summit,” one of the highlights of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in Manila this week.

"The millennials are more knowledgeable than many of us because of their information in the digital space. Because of their accelerated knowledge, sometimes they think they know a lot," Sy-Coson said.

"Some of them are very low in EQ (emotional quotient) but in IQ (intelligence quotient), many of them are very high. I guess it takes a while to balance the EQ and the IQ," she added.

Pangilinan said millennials should not confine themselves to their home countries.

"If you have the chance to go abroad go do it. You are young enough to fail. You are young enough to learn what's out there," he said.

"It's important for you whether you're millennial or not to know what's out there in world. If you're so engrossed with things that are entirely domestic, you will never know what competition is like in the world," he said.

MENTORSHIP

The two industry leaders also expressed their willingness to mentor small businessmen. Pangilinan said PLDT Inc has a unit specifically for that purpose.

“Our goal is to bring them up to the digital age,” Pangilinan said. "A digital company like PLDT is an enabler of businesses large and small.”

Mentoring is “leading by example,” Pangilinan said, adding businessmen should learn that “one can be a profitable enterprise without having to cut corners.”

SM mentors small businessmen by giving constant feedback to suppliers and providing credit links through the group’s banks, Sy-Coson said.

“We always demand from our supplier and service provider to give us better products, better technology and better design,” she said.

“I think it is institutionalizing, formalizing what we have been doing and that is remarkable,” she added.

Go Negosyo chairman founder Joey Concepcion, who helped organize the summit, said he was working at establishing a network for business mentors in Southeast Asia.