President Marcos touts $1.3 billion investment pledges from US trip

Washington —  President Marcos ended what he described as a “meaningful” and “constructive” five-day official visit here yesterday, promising to bring home more than $1.3 billion in investment pledges that can generate about 6,700 jobs.

In a speech delivered before journalists, Marcos said he had met with US firms eyeing to expand their presence in the Philippines as well as with those considering investing in the country for the first time.

The companies, the President added, are committed to be part of the “development journey” that his administration has embarked upon.

“We return to the Philippines with over $1.3 billion in investment pledges that have the potential to create around 6,700 new jobs for Filipinos within the country,” Marcos said.

“When realized, these investments will support our country’s economic recovery efforts and further strengthen the foundations of our economic environment,” he added.

At a forum organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Marcos said that while leaders on official or state visits tend to make very general pronouncements or motherhood statements, it was not the case for him as his latest foreign trip saw him meeting with US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other key American officials.

“We have gone into a remarkable amount of detail in terms of the establishment and the strengthening and deepening of relations between the US and the Philippines. I am lucky, however, that these arrangements and these agreements have come about because we have such a very strong foundation of our relationship,” he added.

Marcos said the Philippines and the US are “drawn to each other” because they recognize that in order to achieve their common goal of peace and prosperity, they need to work with like-minded partners.

He cited his first meeting with Biden on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last year and his official visit here, the first by a sitting Philippine president in over 10 years.

“I do not know quite how that developed that way as that has not been the case in the past, but we are back on our normal road of partnership being – working together hand in hand,” he said.

Marcos’ predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte, did not set foot on US soil as he opted to seek warmer ties with China and Russia. The tough-talking Duterte had assailed the US in many of his speeches, accusing the superpower of meddling in the internal matters of the Philippines.

At one point, he even declared the Philippines’ “separation” from the US, although his officials claimed he was just emphasizing the need to engage with non-traditional partners. Duterte, however, thanked the US for its vaccine donation at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Partnership

Marcos said the Philippines and the US continue to work to sustain their economic momentum and secure inclusive development by expanding cooperation in key areas like agriculture, energy, infrastructure, climate change and security.

He described the two countries as “natural strategic trade and investment partners,” noting that the Philippines was among the first to welcome and embrace the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

“At the outset, we found that our values aligned with the principles underpinning the United States’ vision for the IPEF – that of transparency, of fairness, competitiveness, of inclusiveness, sustainability and resilience,” Marcos said.

The President then cited issues that he said are of vital importance to the two countries’ economic partnership.

He said reauthorizing the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, which grants duty-free privilege to thousands of exports from the Philippines, is a “key first step.”

“Both our countries have greatly benefited from the GSP. The program covers over 2,000 products and certainly can be expanded to cover other products of interest,” Marcos said.

He also urged the US government and the private sector to consider doing business with the Philippines in the areas of clean energy, decarbonization, agriculture, food security, critical green minerals, digital infrastructure and telecommunications and health care.

Energy and green metals cooperation must be prioritized to advance their common climate agenda, he added.

Marcos said the Philippines is also interested in becoming a strategic partner of the US in terms of metal processing for American battery application and development.

According to him, the increased deployment of clean technologies comes with an increase in demand for inputs of crucial energy resource minerals, including cobalt and nickel, which are abundant in the Philippines.

“We are eager to work with the US government to carve out a clear pathway for maximizing incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act to help our sources of raw and processed materials for battery production to complement your National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries,” Marcos said.

123 agreement

Marcos said the Philippines and the US have advanced discussions on a possible “123 agreement,” which is named after Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act. The provision requires the conclusion of a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement for significant transfers of nuclear material or equipment from the US.

Such agreements also facilitate cooperation in areas like technical exchanges, scientific research and safeguards discussions.

“We see nuclear energy as an important part of the country’s future energy mix, both for ensuring supply and bringing electrical costs down,” Marcos said.

“This will allow us to progress discussions with the US companies offering nuclear technologies for government and for commercial use, while we continue cooperation on other capacity building initiatives under other strategic civilian nuclear cooperation MOU or memorandum of understanding,” he added.

Marcos also expressed hope that the US would work with the Philippines in establishing the Virology and Vaccine Institute.

“We can jointly work on the training of technicians and specialists including post-graduate education scholarships; providing necessary equipment and implements for the Center and establishing what is envisioned to be the first Bio-Safety Level 4 Laboratory in the country,” the Chief Executive said.

“We look forward to welcoming pharmaceutical companies open to taking advantage of incentives in using the Philippines as a base for their vaccine manufacturing and distribution operations.”

The Philippines, Marcos added, is also looking forward to its continued partnership with the US in fighting non-communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, diabetes and obesity.