US prioritizes Phl in investments—US Commerce Dept chief

The government of the United States assured that with its current ironclad alliance with the Philippines, the country will be prioritized in terms of the volume of investments that will be poured in from various American companies.

“The message is the United States is committed and will continue to show up to the Philippines. Why the Philippines, because it is special. We are engaging more and more economically in the Indo-Pacific region. But the Philippines is special because of the 72-year ironclad, rock-solid treaty partnership,” said US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Tuesday during the joint membership meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce, the Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines and the US-ASEAN Business Council in Fairmont Hotel, Makati City, as part of Raimondo’s Presidential Trade and Investment Mission.

The PTIM was attended by 22 leaders and CEOs of leading American companies, including Microsoft, Google, FedEx, Mastercard, and Visa, United Airlines, among others.

“These companies want to take advantage of the Philippines’ well-trained, English-speaking and hardworking population,” Raimondo maintained.

Earlier, Raimondo announced that the 22 company delegations that she brought to the country for the PTIM pledged a collective $1 billion (roughly P56 B) of investments, apart from the 30 million education opportunities for future Filipino workforce in terms of reskilling with innovation and the utilization of artificial intelligence.

Further, Raimondo announced that the trade mission resulted in the establishment of the Electric Vehicle Education Center to train Filipinos for jobs in the fast-growing industry and solar and nuclear energy to support the country’s energy and climate.

Focus of investments

Ted Osius, president of the US ASEAN Business Council, said the US government is very particular to focus on information and communications technology, as the Philippines has a young and very gifted workforce.

“The Philippines has so much talent and many US companies are very much interested in the country’s very fast-growing tech economy, the fastest in Southeast Asia. The second is in the energy sector because the Philippine government is pushing for a significant energy transition towards greater use of renewables, which provides opportunities,” Osius said.

Thirdly, he said American companies are interested in the healthcare sector of the Philippines, as there are tremendous opportunities in it.

“There are tremendous opportunities in the Philippines to boost the production of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and the healthcare industry in general,” he stressed.

Osius also stated the ease of doing business in the country has already improved, the reason why foreign investors, particularly American firms, are so bullish about pouring in investments into the country.