Several American investors in tourism, finance, and technology are studying expansion plans in the Philippines as they emphasize the country’s resiliency amid a shaky global environment, the Department of Finance said Friday.

Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the foreign investors expressed this during a meeting last Wednesday for the Philippine Economic Dialogue held in Washington, D.C.

“I think the test really of an economy is not so much how it performs in good times, but how it deals with some of the big challenges,” HSBC chairman for public sector and global banking Michael Ellam said.

“The underlying strength of the Philippines economy is, I think, certainly leaves us very excited about how well positioned it is to take advantage of some of these bigger trends that we’re seeing in the global economy,” he added.

Executives from Citi, IBM and Marriott International also shared their interest in furthering partnerships with the Philippine government and business community.

Goldman Sachs

With a strong labor market and an appetite for consumption, the DoF shared that Goldman Sachs echoes the upbeat outlook for the Philippines as it sees the country taking over France as the 14th largest economy by 2075.

The government projects the productivity of citizens to increase from a gross national income per capita of $4,000 to a range of $4,466 to $13,845 by next year. This means the country will mostly consist of upper middle-income people, the DoF said.

“We currently have 12 hotels across six brands, but we’re expanding rapidly in the Philippines. And in our current signed pipeline, we have 16 new hotels,” the DoF quoted a representative of Marriott International.

More than double 

“We’re planning to more than double our presence currently, which is just a very exciting time,” the company officer added according to the DoF’s statement to the media.

Meanwhile, IBM said it is looking to outsource certain technology operations in the country as the government builds up its digital infrastructure and updates its educational programs.

“We’re making a great investment in skills in the Philippines, and we’d like to see the government continue to focus on that area so we can continue to expand technology jobs in the Philippines,” DoF quoted an IBM executive.

The government aims to keep infrastructure spending at 5 to 6 percent of gross domestic product annually, while reaching out to foreign investors to complete its 185 infrastructure flagship projects.

Partnership for global infra

“It’s been an incredible partnership with your government and we’re thrilled with the announcement of the Luzon Corridor during the trilateral leaders summit last week. We look forward to engagement with a range of other government and private sector partners,” an official of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment told Recto.

The government said the corridor awaits the construction of rail, ports, clean energy, semiconductor, and agribusiness projects which will link business activities between Subic Bay, Clark, Manila and Batangas.