President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday said stepping up partnerships between Manila and Washington on digital infrastructure, food security, health, and clean energy has high potential for growth and provide the most benefits to both nations.
The President made the remark in a policy speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.
The advancement of Philippines-US common climate agenda, energy and green metals cooperation will be an important piece of engagement, Marcos stressed.
Marcos said the country is interested in becoming a strategic partner of the US in terms of metal processing for American battery application and development.
“The increased deployment of clean technologies comes with an increase in demand for inputs of crucial energy resource minerals, including cobalt, nickel which just happens to be very abundant in the Philippines,” he said.
Marcos said the Philippines is willing to work with the US government under its Inflation Reduction Act and help the sources of raw and processed materials for battery production and complement its “National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries.”
Nuclear energy
President Marcos said he also sees nuclear energy as an important part of the country’s future “energy mix,” both for ensuring supply and bringing electricity costs down.
“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,” Marcos said.
Marcos told US President Joe Biden that he sees the process as a “critical undertaking technical cooperation” and possible US investments on the adoption of geographic information systems, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence in the baselining and change detection of terrestrial, coastal, and marine ecosystems.
“This will aid us as we establish our own geospatial database and equip us to move towards strengthening science-based policy-making in our country,” he added.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s greatest challenges.
Joining the President were Speaker Martin Romualdez, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, Department of National Defense Officer-in-Charge Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., Environment Secretary Maria Antonia “Toni” Yulo-Loyzaga, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Communications Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil, and Special Assistant to the President Secretary Antonio Lagdameo Jr. (PND)