Marcos urges unity, innovation for economic recovery and growth
NEW YORK — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has urged businesses to find new ways to forge partnerships and to boost their capabilities to contribute to economic growth that would benefit all sectors.
During a dialogue with the US-ASEAN Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce this week, Marcos emphasized the need to maximize available assets and capabilities while finding ways to enhance economic relationships.
"We really have to leverage whatever assets, whatever capabilities we have so that we can maximize our ability to grow and to pull the economy," the president said.
"Let us find new ways to partner, let us find new ways to develop, let us find new ways to strengthen this relationship between the United States, ASEAN and the Philippines and in that way, the synergies we will find in that kind of relationship will be to the benefit of us all," he added
In a Facebook post, Marcos expressed hope that as ties between partners are strengthened, they would come up with innovative solutions to boost their economies together.
He said the dialogue with the two groups was intended "to chart new paths for furthering mutually beneficial economic and investment agendas with the United States."
"As we reopen our borders amid the pandemic, we remain firm in our belief that stronger ties with US and ASEAN investors will lead us to a more resilient economy," Marcos added.
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Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said Marcos' meeting with the US-ASEAN Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce was an opportunity for him to discuss the measures being undertaken by the government to reform the economy and to lure investors.
"The president believes that the two institutions are important partners in growing the businesses in our country and inc creating more jobs for Filipinos," she added.
Marcos also discussed the Philippines' priorities that were tackled in his speech during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the economic and investment agenda of the Philippine government.
The US-ASEAN Business Council is an advocacy organization of US corporations operating within the ASEAN region. The US Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, is an assembly of small businesses and business chambers across the US. It represents the interests of more than three million businesses.
Other meetings
Marcos also had a series of meetings that tackled economic issues, food security and peace process last Wednesday, the fourth day of his six-day working visit here
He met with officials of multilateral lender World Bank, including its president David Malpass. Officials present during the meeting include Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. Malacañang has yet to provide details of the meeting.
On the same day, the president met with executives of Cargill, an American global food corporation, to discuss ways to achieve food security and self-sufficiency, and explore ways to boost agricultural productivity. In a Facebook post, Marcos described the meeting as "enlightening."
Cargill, which provides agricultural products, farming services and risk management solutions, employs about 50,000 people and has presence in more than 70 countries. The meeting came a day after Marcos delivered an address before the UNGA, which included his appeal for nations to strengthen their cooperation on agriculture and food security.
The president also met with former United Kingdom prime minister Tony Blair, who is now the executive chairman of the non-profit Tony Blair Institute For Global Change.
"We tackled the optimistic peace process in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and explored concrete ways to address other priority issues in the global economy such as food security, climate action, and trade," Marcos said in a Facebook post.
Blair's accomplishments include overseeing the Northern Irish peace processand the responses to the 9/11 attacks and to the London bombings of 2005.
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