The Philippines has garnered an estimated $9.8 billion in investment pledges from European leaders and business officials, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday night as he arrived in Manila from Belgium, where he attended an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) business summit.
During his arrival speech, Marcos said a business roundtable served as an “important catalyst for the renewed relations” between the Philippines and European business communities.
He also said that leaders of the ASEAN and EU member-states have had fruitful discussions on a wide array of issues that concern both sides.In his arrival statement, the President said that both the ASEAN and EU member-states’ leaders have had fruitful discussions on a wide array of issues that concern both sides.
“I’m pleased to be back in Manila, after what was a very productive ASEAN-EU Business Summit and Commemorative Summit in Brussels, Belgium. Yesterday, during the Commemorative Summit, we had fruitful discussions with Asean and EU members-states’ leaders,” Mr. Marcos said.
“We exchanged views on what is in store for ASEAN-EU cooperation, particularly on areas of mutual interest and concerns such as connectivity, trade, digital transition, food security, climate change, geopolitics, amongst others,” he added.
The commemorative summit gave Mr. Marcos the opportunity to put forward the Philippines’ stance on pressing global issues as well as its plans, including post-pandemic recovery, with fellow world leaders.
President Marcos had bilateral meetings with the King of Belgium, leaders from Estonia, the Czech Republic, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Finland, the Netherlands, and the European Union.
Speaking before European business leaders in Belgium, Mr. Marcos pushed for investments and climate change action.
European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) executive director Florian Gottein said the business leaders were impressed by Marcos’ commitment to the initiatives on regional economic integration.
“European business leaders reacted very positively [to] President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s speech during a C-Suite Luncheon with European Business Leaders before the 10th ASEAN-EU [Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union] business summit in which he called for more European investments in the Philippines as well as he asked for more support from Europe on climate action issues,” Gottein said in a statement.
ECCP is a bilateral foreign chamber that promotes European interests in the Philippines as well as Philippine interests in Europe.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said top European leaders expressed admiration for Marcos’ dedication to attending all meetings despite catching a cold.
In his closing remarks during the 10th ASEAN-EU Business Summit, Marcos expressed appreciation to the guests for listening to his speech despite his “squeaky voice,” adding that “winter is not suitable to Filipinos.”
“Thank you for putting up with this very strange, squeaky voice,” he said.
He also apologized to business leaders at the C-Suite Luncheon, admitting that he was not used to the cold weather.
“I would also like at this point to apologize for my voice, but you must understand that a temperature difference of—from 35 degrees to -3 is a big jump for this old body,” the 65-year-old President said.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s cousin, earlier said Mr. Marcos got the cold after the latter decided to skip a scheduled media briefing on Tuesday in Brussels.
Mr. Marcos, in the same speech, emphasized how the EU-ASEAN Business Council continues to “play a crucial role” in advancing ASEAN’s regional economic integration and post-pandemic economic recovery efforts.
He expressed hope that the ASEAN and EU would continue the momentum on trade and investment in 2023 and beyond.
The President assured European business leaders of the Philippine government’s ongoing efforts to improve the country’s business climate.
“I would like to assure you that the Philippine government will continue to provide support for businesses and investments to continuously grow and prosper,” he said in a speech during the Philippines-European Union (EU) Business Roundtable in Brussels.
He touted the Philippines as “an ideal regional hub” for sustainable and innovation-driven manufacturing and services, as well as for clean technology and renewable energy sources.
Mr. Marcos said the Philippines is endowed with rich natural resources to host Europe’s key sectors.
He cited the presence of Philippine companies in Europe, expressing hope to see more of these companies in the future as Europe continues to enhance its regulatory regime to remain open, transparent and business-friendly.
Mr. Marcos also reiterated the country’s commitment to maintaining its EU Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) beneficiary status, serving as a stepping-stone towards a PH-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Under the EU GSP+, the Philippines enjoys free tariff for 6,274 products entering the EU market.
In return, the Philippines has to adhere to the 27 international conventions on human rights, labor rights, environmental protection, and good governance to continue enjoying the trade perks.
Mr. Marcos also told businessmen that the government is currently working on an executive order on the creation of “Green Lanes,” which seeks to mandate concerned offices to expedite and streamline processes, such as the issuance of permits and licenses, as well as the resolution of issues in strategic investments.
The measure requires government agencies and local government units to process, in the case of a simple transaction, a permit or license application in a period no longer than three working days, while in the case of highly technical transactions, 20 days from the date of receipt.
The President said the Filipino labor force was the country’s greatest advantage.
“We have a sizable population of 107 million Filipinos and our labor force stands at 50 million,” he said.
Citing government data, he said the Philippines annually produces 800,000 graduates across several disciplines with the majority of them in business administration, education, science and teacher training, engineering and technology, information technology-related disciplines, as well as medical and allied courses.
Mr. Marcos said the Philippine population’s median age is 25 years old and more than 60 percent of the labor force of 49 million are of working age.
“Apart from the young, the Philippine workforce is distinguished by high trainability… proficiency in English language, technological skill, cost-efficiency, cultural adaptability, and a low turn-over or attrition rate,” he added.
In other developments:
• Spanish President Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón vowed to provide institutional support to help strengthen the dialogue in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Pérez-Castejón made this commitment in a meeting with President Marcos on Wednesday on the sidelines of the ASEAN-EU summit.
• President Marcos sought closer cooperation in the defense sector with the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, during meetings with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
• French shipbuilder OCEA vowed to build a P1.5 billion shipyard development in the Philippines following a meeting with President Marcos in Belgium. The planned investment will create 500 to 600 direct and indirect jobs for Filipinos as it seeks to build 15- to 120-meter boats for several markets intended for maritime safety and security, transportation and fisheries, the Palace said in a press statement.
President Marcos and his Estonian counterpart, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, agreed to bolster Manila and Tallinn’s cooperation in digitalization and promoting e-governance in both countries.