PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. has secured some $285 million (about P15.588 billion) worth of investment pledges from businesses in leaders in Malaysia in the fields of food processing, multi-service digital platforms, aviation and aviation maintenance support services, logistics, manufacturing, infrastructure, and water and wastewater treatment, among others.
The President, who returned last night from a three-day state visit to Kuala Lumpur, spent the last day on a series of meetings with Malaysian business leaders whom he invited to either invest or expand investments in the Philippines.
“I had the benefit of meeting a number of Malaysian businesses in the key sectors of agriculture, transportation, and technology,” Marcos said during a roundtable meeting with the business leaders.
He said the meetings provided insights that convinced him that the Philippines and Malaysia are moving in the right direction, with structural changes that will establish the Philippines as the ideal investment partner for Malaysian businesses.
Among the executives Marcos met with are from the Malaysian dairy company Farm Fresh Berhad which is eyeing a $20-million (about P1.09 billion) investment in cattle breeding intended for milk production and to hire at least 200 workers.
The company, whose Philippine counterpart is the Farm Fresh Milk Inc., is now looking to lease a 200 to 400-hectare land in Batangas and Laguna and plans to start operations by 2028. It will be in addition to the 6,000-square meter dairy processing facility that it is building in San Simon in Pampanga, which is targeted to be operational by next year. The $5-million facility in Pampanga is intended for fresh milk production and will employ at least 50 workers.
The President also met with the officials of Capital A Berhad which started from an airline firm to a digital travel and lifestyle brand with diverse business verticals including aviation.
It operates Air Asia in the Philippines.
The Department of Trade and Industry said five Malaysian companies signed letters of intent (LOIs) to invest in the Philippines, including Farm Fresh Berhad.
“We are optimistic these signed LOIs will materialize in the coming months. These investments are related to food processing, multi-service digital platforms, aviation, aviation maintenance support service, logistics, manufacturing, infrastructure, and water and wastewater treatment. We expect that these will greatly contribute to our pursuit of economic recovery and expansion in the form of 8,365 estimated jobs to be created,” said Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual.
Marcos, during the Philippine Business Forum in Kuala Lumpur, said the roundtable meeting with his economic team and several Malaysian business executives that preceded the forum had yielded $235 million worth of pledges from different sectors.
“The investment commitments that we have received thus far are valued at around $235 million (about P12.8 billion) which is a good indication that there is strong interest from Malaysia to invest in the Philippines. The engagement with the Malaysian companies and business leaders this morning yielded very interesting, and what I believe will provide, have a potential for mutually beneficial outcomes for both Malaysia and Philippine companies,” he said.
Marcos said Malaysia is the fourth top source of foreign direct investments of the Philippines, which stands at $108 million. He said this stood at the same level for “a fairly long time now” and it is time to increase the level of trade.
A news release from the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the government reaped THE $285 million in investment commitments after Malaysian business leaders pledged to expand their investments and operations in the Philippines or invest in other sectors. These include the food processing industry, multi-service digital platforms, aviation, aviation maintenance support services, logistics, manufacturing, infrastructure, water and wastewater treatment.
During both the roundtable meeting and business forum, Marcos said the Philippines has already shown “healthy signs of economic recovery” from the recent pandemic after the country registered 7.6 gross domestic product growth last year, and 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2023 surpassing some of its neighbors in the region.
“The reason that we put such emphasis on the growth figures is that as all the countries have gone into debt — a higher rate of debt-to-GDP because of the pandemic and the costs of the pandemic response for all the countries. It is our fundamental theory that we should grow out of that debt,” he said.
In the President’s Report to the People, he said his administration is intent on keeping the debt to GDP ratio to below 60 percent by 2025. The GDP ratio in 2022 was 60.9 percent and at 61 percent in the first quarter of 2023.
CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT
Marcos assured the business leaders of the Philippine government’s commitment to continue its support not only to prospective Malaysian investors, but also to the Malaysian companies which are doing business in the Philippines.
He also said that his administration continues to seek ways to ensure a conducive business environment for foreign investors as he bared business-related policies aimed at simplifying procedures and shortening processing periods to ensure ease of doing business in the Philippines.
He said measures such as the Retail Trade Liberalization Act amendments, the Foreign Investments Act, the Public Services Act amendments, and the Renewable Energy (RE) Act had also been passed, which opened up sectors including air transport, telecommunications, shipping, retail, and renewable energy projects to foreign ownership. — With Irma Isip
