PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. is bringing home some P11 billion worth of investments
in retail tourism, software manufacturing, and infrastructure on his return from a four-day trip to Singapore.
Marcos flew to Singapore on Thursday last week, his 66th birthday, to address the 10th Asia Summit organized by Milken Institute. He also attended a roundtable meeting with business leaders and talked about the potential investment opportunities in the Philippines. He left Singapore on Sunday night.
On Friday and Saturday, Marcos had private meetings with executives of several firms including India’s GMR Group that has expressed interest in investing in more of the administration’s “Build Better More” infrastructure program particularly in the airports, roads and energy infrastructure.
Cavitex Holdings is GMR’s local partner and leads the consortium that bagged the Sangley Point International Airport project. The consortium is just awaiting government clearances before starting groundwork. It plans to start the construction in Sangley in Cavite next year and finish the runway in five years. It has also bid in the P170.6-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport public-private partnership project.
On Saturday, Marcos met officials of Dyson Limited, a Singaporean multinational technology company, who pledged to invest P11-billion in a new factory producing electrical motors and in research and development in the Philippines in the next two years.
Dyson’s chief executive officer, Ronald Krueger, told the President their company wants to “expand also in terms of staff, software, and others that we require over the next two years,” which Marcos welcomed as it would mean “hiring more software engineers and other engineering graduates.”
Krueger said they will hire 1,250 employees and move more contract manufacturing into the Philippines within the year.
RETAIL TOURISM
The President also met with executives of Malaysian retail specialist Valiram Group which is looking at expanding its operations in the Philippines in the next five years by developing airport outlets for duty-free retail tourism.
The Valiram Group also intends to bring in luxurious brands from their partners, including those that are not yet available in the country, and those that have already captured a small sector of the market.
The President was accompanied by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual and Ambassador Medardo Antonio Macaraig in the different meetings.
Romualdez expressed his support for the President’s thrust to encourage more investors to come to the Philippines, noting that Congress is focusing on crafting legislation or laws that govern the treatment and the appreciation of foreign investments into the country.
On the sidelines of the Singapore visit, the President thanked those who greeted him on his birthday, and went some of letters and drawings were sent to him, including from young students, through the Bahay Ugnayan and the Road to Malacañang Museum.
In his 249th Vlog episode released late Saturday, Marcos said the wishes and support from the letters as well as the caricatures and drawings of the students makes him smile and feel good. He said it also inspires him to do better at his job and fulfill the promises he made.
Yesterday, the President visited the Lucky Plaza Mall on Orchard Road which is a popular place among Filipinos. The Presidential Communications Office said the Filipinos expressed happiness over meeting the President and satisfaction over changes being implemented by the government.
The President had no scheduled meeting with the Filipino community during his latest official visit to Singapore. It was his third visit to Singapore since becoming President with the first one being a state visit in September 2022 and the second one was a private visit to watch the opening of the F1 Grand Prix in October last year.
