Gov’t gets high marks from visiting American businessmen

A visiting business delegation from the US-ASEAN Business Council and the US-Philippines Business Council expressed satisfaction and continued confidence in the Philippines yesterday following a meeting with President Arroyo.

"Our mission is a show of commitment by US businesses in the Philippines. The economy is clearly improving and we’re here to reaffirm our support and explore policies to enhance the competitiveness of the Philippines," Council president Matthew Daley said.

The US companies represented by the delegation included the American International Group, Ford Motor Co., General Electric, InterGen/Quezon Power, Mirant, Oracle Philippines Corp., Qualcom, Time Warner and Unisys.

Daley said the businessmen met with Mrs. Arroyo and her economic team to get an update on recent developments on the economic and political fronts as well as trade ideas on how the Philippines can be more competitive.

The US business delegation, Daley said, was generally happy with the economic growth, the lowering of the budget deficit, the strengthening of the peso, the improvement in revenue collection and the increase in foreign direct investments.

The improvements, Daley noted, have qualified the Philippines for the Millennium Challenge Account, which would provide funds for fighting corruption.