Marcos reaps USD14bn investment pledges during first state visits

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has secured investment pledges of USD14bn during his first overseas trips in Indonesia and Singapore. Marcos met leaders of government and commerce and declared the Philippines open for business, inviting private capital to upgrade and expand roads, airports, and seaports in the archipelago of 110 million people. Marcos, together with top officials of his economic team, received investment pledges in renewable energy, data centres, e-commerce, broadband technology, government housing, and agriculture that will support the country’s economic recovery efforts and create more jobs for Filipinos. Marcos wants to improve agriculture to reduce reliance on food imports and to expand the economy by as much as 8% during his six-year term and halve the poverty rate, which was 18.1% in 2021.