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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with US President Joe Biden in a  bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN Genral Assembly on  September 22, 2022. Office of the Press Secretary handout

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Andrea Taguines

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA -- Thirty chief executives of top American companies are expected to join the United States Trade Mission to the Philippines this coming March 11 to 12, 2024, which will be led by US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.</p><p>In a press conference held by the US-Philippines Society on Tuesday, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said that dozens more actually showed interest in joining the delegation but Raimondo narrowed it down to companies engaged in industries that are critical to Manila “to make sure that something will come out of this delegation.”</p><p>“Originally, there were about 60 that wanted to come here but I think Secretary Raimondo has opted to pare it down so it will be more focused on infrastructure, AI and digital area of our business sector,&quot; Romualdez said.</p><p>&quot;They’re also looking at more investments into the manufacturing sector. The semiconductor industry is already very strong here but we want to get even more investments,” he added</p><p>Ambassador John Negroponte, who is the co-chairman of the US-Philippines Society, said the Philippines has become a place of interest for many investors because of the country’s high economic growth rate and low unemployment rate.</p><p>Negroponte also sees opportunities for investment and collaboration in the field of energy, which is considered as crucial right now as the Philippines braces for the impact of El Niño.</p><p>“Some of the issues regarding distribution of energy, for example, and some of the bottlenecks that can from time to time occur. I’ve heard discussions about brownouts. I think there are probably companies in the United States and elsewhere that can probably help the Philippines address some of those problems,” he said.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/11/20/23/marcos-biden-curated-business-delegation-to-visit-ph">Biden-curated business delegation to visit PH in March 2024: Marcos</a></div><p>This trade mission was pledged by US President Joe Biden to his Philippine counterpart, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., during the latter’s official visit to Washington D.C. in April last year.</p><div><strong>ECONOMIC RESTRICTIONS</strong></div><p>Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said he believes the liberalization of some of the Philippines’ economic policies will help bring in more foreign investments into the country and make it more competitive than other countries in Southeast Asia.</p><p>His comment comes amid proposals to amend the 1987 Philippine Constitution, particularly, by removing certain economic restrictions.</p><p>“We have to refine some of these things because, for instance, the exploration of natural resources is limited only to Filipino companies or Filipinos,” he said.</p><p>According to Romualdez, the Philippines’ nickel industry would benefit from this since the country does not currently have the capability to process nickel.</p><p>“Indonesia, which has quite a lot of nickel, they have processing plants and they have no problem with exporting to the United States. But their grade is much lower than ours. Ours is one of the best in the world. Sadly, all of these particular mineral is going only to China. They process it and they export it to the United States,” he said.</p><p>Negroponte said the issue of economic charter change may be taken up during the Philippine Business and Economic Forum this Tuesday afternoon at a hotel in Makati City.</p><p>“Sounds to me that if there’s a will, there’s a way and sounds to me like the political disposition today is much more favorable to availing the Philippine economy of foreign investment opportunities. That makes sense if you have an economy that’s essentially dominated by the private sector. You’ve got to seek foreign partners and foreign investment,” he said.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/2/12/foreign-biz-groups-back-economic-cha-cha-2228">Foreign biz groups back economic cha-cha</a></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/2024/2/12/ph-already-one-of-most-open-economies-investment-banker-1712">PH already one of most open economies: investment banker</a></div>

<p>Thirty chief executives of top American companies are expected to join the United States Trade Mission to the Philippines on March 11 to 12. </p>

Thirty chief executives of top American companies are expected to join the United States Trade Mission to the Philippines on March 11 to 12.

30 American CEOs to join US trade mission to PH this March

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30 American CEOs to join US trade mission to PH this March

Andrea Taguines,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 27, 2024 07:38 PM PHT

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Economic cha-cha

United States

Philippines

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