There’s a number of things that we can do to make it easier for Canadian investors to be building in the Philippines. We should make sure we’re accelerating our works so that we can be much more active partners on that
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants strong collaboration with the Philippines to make it easier for Canadian infrastructure builders to secure projects in the country, Malacañang said on Monday.
The Office of the Press Secretary said Trudeau raised the concern with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Sunday evening.
"There's a number of things that we can do to make it easier for Canadian investors to be building in the Philippines. We should make sure we're accelerating our works so that we can be much more active partners on that," Trudeau told President Marcos, according to OPS.
"And there's also a lot that we can do on small and medium size businesses, particularly women-owned and run, which is an area of tremendous growth and strength in the Philippine economy to see women succeed," he added.
OPS said the Canadian leader said his country has a number of programs and Canada would be happy to work with the Philippines for the benefit of the economy, particularly for the micro, small and medium enterprises.
In response, Marcos welcomed Trudeau's offer, stressing one of the thrusts of his administration is to assist MSMEs in recovering from the pandemic, as many of them lost steam in the past years.
"They are 99.8 percent of our businesses, our MSMEs. They are 62, 63 percent of our employment. (They) are employed in MSMEs. And it took a big hit in the pandemic," Marcos said.
"And so that's what we've been trying to do — is to try to support them, and it has a very large multiplier effect," he added.
Marcos also cited the Philippines' experience in dealing with Severe Tropical Storm Paeng as among the direct effects of climate change.
"It was a very strange one because it was the very first one in our history where every single part of the country was affected by one typhoon," he told Trudeau.
"From up in the northern part, the northern island of Luzon, all the way down to the southern part of the Philippines. Everybody felt it and felt it badly."
Marcos explained that the consequences of climate change severely impacted the Philippines, which is very vulnerable due to its geography.
He described the Philippines as a sink that absorbs carbon dioxide.
"…This is how it developed and this is how it has evolved. We have to manage it and we have to deal with it so… these are the consequences of that neglect," Marcos said.
Trudeau, for his part, said Canada had the same experience after the country was hit by recent hurricanes on the East Coast, forest fires, droughts and floods.
Although some have yet to realize the unpredictability and consequences of climate change, Trudeau said it was a "big step" that more people are now aware of the reality of the effects of climate change.
He also sympathized with the Philippine government due to the onslaught of Paeng, which killed at least 150 people.
