House Speaker Martin Romualdez (File photo)
MANILA – House Speaker Martin Romualdez has assured the United States business community that the Philippines is very ripe for more investments, saying that Filipino lawmakers have been exerting efforts to ease doing business in the Philippines.
Romualdez, who is in the US with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for a working visit, delivered Tuesday (Philippine time) a keynote message before the New York Stock Exchange Business Forum attended by US business leaders.
“Thank you for giving an opportunity to the Marcos administration and for considering the President's agenda and vision. We are open to broadening and strengthening the economic partnership with the Philippine government. Let us continue to promote mutually beneficial trade and investment relationships,” Romualdez said, vowing to make even stronger the robust ties between the Philippines and the United States.
Romualdez said Congress has been working with Marcos to introduce reforms and attract more foreign investors into the Philippines.
“Rest assured that we, in the Philippine House of Representatives, remain committed to enacting laws that would help deepen cooperation with the United States, particularly in the areas of the supply chain, health and security, environment and climate change, energy security, and interconnectivity,” he said.
The US is the Philippines’ major trading and economic cooperation partner and ally, making it a significant source of investments.
It is also the biggest source of remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and Filipino-Americans.
READ: Marcos woos US investors: PH economy 'robust, resilient'
Romualdez said the Philippines “need more trading partners to realize President Marcos’ infrastructure modernization program, which is the best driver of economic growth.”
He said Marcos aims to sustain government efforts toward responding to the crippling effects of the health crisis brought by the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic.
This can be done by focusing government spending on improving the country’s healthcare systems, ensuring food security, increasing investments in public and digital infrastructure, and helping communities cope and prevail, he added.
“We have to make different sectors of the economy stronger and more agile by creating more jobs and catalyzing business activities all over the country while saving lives and protecting communities from the continuing threat of the global health crisis,” Romualdez said. “With your assistance, under the leadership of President Marcos, you would help us get back on our feet and bring us closer to realizing our dream of providing a better future to our fellow Filipinos."
Earlier, Romualdez expressed high hopes for the success of Marcos’ working visit, following successful trips to Indonesia and Singapore that resulted in more than USD14 billion in investment pledges from the respective business communities of the two countries.
Marcos is set to deliver the Philippine national statement at the 77th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
He will be the first leader of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to deliver a statement at this year's high-level General Debate.
Aside from sharing the country's views on various global concerns at the UNGA, Marcos will meet with world leaders and continue to hold dialogues with foreign investors to do business in the Philippines. (PNA)
