PBBM will join APEC Summit in California

JAKARTA, Indonesia — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco, California in November to meet with other leaders of APEC member economies, as well as potential investors from Silicon Valley.

In a chance interview with reporters late Tuesday evening, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel "Babe" Romualdez said the United States will hold the meeting from 15 to 18 November.

Romualdez said that Marcos is also planning to visit another city on the West Coast after the summit, and possibly make a short stopover in Honolulu, Hawaii.

"The President would like to have a lot of meetings with potential investors once again. There's a lot of interest in the Philippines now from many companies," Romualdez said.

Romualdez said that Marcos is particularly interested in meeting with tech companies and other institutions from Silicon Valley.

"The Silicon Valley tech companies are very eager to meet with him. There's also quite a number of requests from financial institutions. There are also companies in the manufacturing business in the West Coast, and probably a follow-up on the modular nuclear power plants that we've been talking about," Romualdez said.

The APEC Summit is an annual meeting of leaders from 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific region. The summit is designed to promote economic cooperation and trade in the region.

Marcos's participation in the APEC Summit is seen as an opportunity to boost the Philippines' economic relations with the United States and other APEC member economies. It is also seen as an opportunity to attract foreign investment to the Philippines.

Should President Marcos' visit to California push through later this year, it will be his third since he took office in June 2022.

He previously visited Washington, D.C., for a five-day working visit last May and New York City for the United Nations General Assembly in September 2022.