Marcos highlights efforts to ease investing in PH for US investors

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday touted efforts by the government to make it easier for American investors to start a business in the Philippines.

During a dinner reception hosted by the LT Group, Inc. in New York, the president said, “We are ready to work with you. The Philippines is open—and I mean that not as a slogan, but as a commitment from my administration."
 
“We have been working hard to improve our investment climate, cut red tape, make it easier to do business, and build something lasting in our country. We are also at a moment of real opportunity,” he added.

With the skilled, adaptable, and English-speaking Filipino workforce and the country's continuously improving infrastructure, Marcos said the Philippines is an "option" for American businesses.

The Philippines also has one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations in Asia, he added.

“We have a government that is actively investing in industrial zones and manufacturing corridors, and that is serious about making the Philippines a reliable node in global supply chains,” Marcos said.
 
“Whether in electronics, aerospace components, medical device manufacturing, food processing, or high-value manufacturing—the opportunity is real, and it is now,” he added.
 
As for financial services, Marcos said that a large portion of the country’s population remains underserved by traditional banking, creating an "enormous business opportunity."
 
He cited the expansion of the fintech sector, digital payments, microfinance, and insurance products suited to the mass market, which makes them ripe for innovation and investment. 
 
As the digital economy continues to grow, the government is engaging the world’s leading hyperscalers, data center operators, and technology companies to make the country part of the infrastructure of the future.
 
“We are not waiting to be discovered. We are making the case, actively and deliberately, that the Philippines is where you want to be,” Marcos told the businesses.
 
“So tonight, I encourage you—talk to each other; find the opportunities; and when you do, know that you have a partner in the Philippines who is serious about making it happen,” President Marcos noted.
 he added.

Among those who attended were members of the U.S.-Philippines Society (USPS), U.S.-ASEAN Business Council (U.S.-ABC), Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce (PACC), U.S. businessmen, and the Philippine business delegation.
 
Founded in 1937, the LT Group, Inc. is a leading diversified holding company in the Philippines with major interests in banking, tobacco, distilled spirits, beverages, and property development. —LDF, GMA Integrated News