The Philippines is open for business, and it welcomes Cambodian investors to put their money in the country, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. declared during a joint press conference with visiting Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet in Malacañang Tuesday.
The President congratulated Manet on the resounding success of Monday’s business forum, which the Cambodian leader attended.
President Marcos said the event facilitated valuable networking opportunities between the two nation’s private sectors. It also provided a platform for discussing potential business collaborations and enhancing mutual understanding of their respective business environments and incentive schemes.
“I am confident that through this engagement, we will see more Filipinos investing in Cambodia, and more Cambodians investing in the Philippines,” the President said.
“To our friends from Cambodia, I wish to reiterate that the Philippines is open for business, and we welcome the opportunity to partner and achieve greater commercial successes with you,” he added.
During discussions on trade and investment, the President noted that both leaders supported formal cooperation regarding avoiding double taxation.
They also stressed the importance of sharing best practices in competition law, which both nations view as essential for encouraging and facilitating increased bilateral investments and economic activities between their business sectors.
The President said that Cambodia is a crucial partner in ensuring food security. He appreciated the people-to-people connections established through cooperation in technical vocational education and training (TVET).
Both sides also renewed their agreement on preventing looting and trafficking of cultural properties and welcomed formal collaboration on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and government digital transformation.
The Philippines and Cambodia established diplomatic relations in 1957, with their friendship evolving through bilateral cooperation and within the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In 2027, the two countries will celebrate the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. | PND
