Biden to send ‘first-of-its-kind’ presidential trade mission to PH

WASHINGTON - United States President Joe Biden said on Monday (Washington time) that he would send a trade and investment mission to the Philippines.

Biden thus announced as he met President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. at the Oval Office.

“We’re gonna announce today that I’m sending a first-of-its-kind presidential trade and investment mission to the Philippines,” Biden said.

According to their joint statement, Biden will dispatch a Presidential Trade and Investment Mission to the Philippines on his behalf "to enhance U.S. companies’ investment in the Philippines’ innovation economy, its clean energy transition and critical minerals sector, and the food security of its people."

The leaders also announced that the United States and the Philippines will co-host the 2024 Indo-Pacific Business Forum – the United States’ marquee commercial event in the region – in Manila.

"[This] will further establish the Philippines as a key hub for regional supply chains and high-quality investment," the joint statement read.

"Additionally, the two countries will pursue engagements with stakeholders, including in the business and social sectors, regarding opportunities to enhance bilateral economic engagement in a manner that is worker-centered, sustainability-driven, fair, and transparent, focusing on sectors in which it is critical to develop resilient supply chains and in which significant and meaningful economic value-added and employment can be generated in the United States and the Philippines," it added.

Before his meeting in the White House, Marcos met with a company that expressed interest in investing more than $7 billion in the country’s nuclear energy system.

The Philippine President also attended a contract signing between a Filipino and a US company that intended to create electronic motor vehicles in the Philippines.

Marcos earlier said his official visit to the US would mean courting possible investors to the Philippines.

Earlier, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the previous high-level meeting between Philippine and US officials would open new channels for stronger trade and investment relations. —Sundy Locus/NB, GMA Integrated News