Philippine economic team out to woo US investors

MANILA, Philippines — The economic team of the Marcos administration will encourage US-based firms to come and do business in the Philippines as the government forecasts continued strong recovery moving forward.

The economic managers will be in the US this week to participate in the 2023 spring meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund in Washington starting today until April 16.

The spring meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank and IMF bring central bankers, finance ministers, the private sector and other groups to discuss issues of global concern such as the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development and aid effectiveness.

On the sidelines of the meetings, the Philippines will hold its Philippine Economic Briefing (PEB) to provide insights on the latest economic developments, government spending priorities, infrastructure programs and recent reforms in the country.

Led by the Department of Finance, the PEB is a platform for the economic team to brief international business and financial communities on the latest developments concerning the country’s economic performance, investment opportunities and the administration’s development plan.

This is also expected to result in foreign direct, fixed income, and equities market investors, as well as infrastructure players.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno will be joined by Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla and National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

Diokno said the economic team would brief some 180 senior executives and representatives of large US-based businesses.

These include aircraft firm Boeing, Carroll real estate investment, GeoX, transport company FedEx Corp., financial services firm Visa and automobile manufacturer Ford Motor Co.

“The message is one of optimism: how the Philippines has transformed itself into one of the fastest growing economies in the fastest growing region in the world,” Diokno said.

“We will unveil the many business opportunities for foreign investors in the Philippines,” he said.

The finance chief emphasized that among the economic highlights that will be presented to US firms include the economic growth last year which was at 7.6 percent on broad-based expansion.

Diokno will also note that government spending is expected to pick up with the early approval and timely implementation of the 2023 national budget.

The country’s exports are also poised to improve with the diversification of markets to expand opportunities for exporters, the approval of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, negotiation of more trade agreements, and improved production ecosystem.

At the start of 2023, the economic team kicked off the PEB in Germany and the United Kingdom. Last year, it held PEBs in Singapore, New York and Washington.