President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is set to visit the US today, Nov. 14 for the 30th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and related activities in San Francisco as he vowed to enhance bilateral relations between the Philippines and other member-countries in the region, invite investors that will uplift the lives of the Filipino people.
In his message before leaving for San Francisco, President Marcos said that his third visit to the US was upon the invitation of President Joseph R. Biden to attend the leaders’ meeting and related activities, which served as the most important platform for the Philippines in terms of trade, investment and economic cooperation.
“This trip marks my third visit to the United States as part of our continuing efforts to further reinforce our already strong bond, and a follow through to my Official Working Visit in Washington, D.C. last May, where we underscored the need of forging closer economic ties and ensuring that our bilateral friendship and relationship works for both our peoples,” the President said.
President Marcos said that this year’s APEC theme “Creating A Sustainable and Resilient Future for All” aligns with the Philippines’ national and economic interest to transform the country towards a sustainable future to uplift the lives of the Filipino people.
“I bring with me your hopes and aspirations for a peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific region where we live,” President Marcos said in his pre-departure speech.
“This year, the U.S. chairmanship of APEC set the cross-cutting themes of sustainability, inclusiveness, and resilience as our priority work so that we can build a resilient and interconnected region that advances broad-based economic prosperity, enable an innovative environment to foster a sustainable future, and affirm an equitable and inclusive future for all. For every single Filipino,” the President added.
“Our APEC work has been focused to prioritize and secure beneficial trade and investment, quality and green jobs, human development
and poverty alleviation,”
At the sidelines of the APEC Summit, President Marcos said that he will be engaging with the economic leaders of the Asia-Pacific region to agree on how the Philippines can achieve food and energy security, economic inclusion of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), women, indigenous people and other sectors.
The President will also meet with business leaders and conduct roundtable discussions on the APEC sidelines to invite investments and seek business opportunities, promote Philippine exports and discuss the country’s economic agenda.
President Marcos was also invited by the APEC CEO Summit to deliver keynote remarks on “intentional equity in sustainability” and share the Philippine experience in ensuring inclusivity on the path towards a greener economy.
Aside from this, the President will also be meeting with private sector representatives from the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) to discuss how the Philippines can use public-private partnership in fulfilling innovative and sustainable development agenda, finance, and economic and business reform.
“On the sidelines of the APEC Summit, I expect to witness the signing of a number of government-to-government, public-private, and business agreements, which have been under negotiation over the past several months, covering priority sectors, such as nuclear energy; artificial intelligence to support weather forecasting; health sciences, particularly cancer research, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention; pharmaceutical manufacturing; and satellite connectivity,” President Marcos said.
“As with my previous visits, I expect to meet with American business leaders to further promote trade and investment opportunities here in the Philippines. Our economic team and I will be joined by a high-profile business delegation in exploring new and expanding partnerships,” he added.
The President’s visit to the US will conclude with his visit to the Filipino community in Los Angeles, California and Honolulu, Hawaii where there is the largest concentrations of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans and “home to almost half of the 4.2 million Filipinos” in the US.
President Marcos’ visit to the Filipino community is part of the administration’s efforts and a fulfillment of his promise of “not leaving anyone behind” and to achieve a resilient Philippines where the fruits of everyone’s hard work “are equitably shared by all.” |PND
