US BUSINESSES are seeking Philippine partners for renewable energy (RE) and infrastructure projects, the Palace said, citing conversations with US companies who are part of a visiting US-ASEAN Business Council delegation.
In a statement, the Presidential Communications Office said 30 US companies visited the country, the largest such contingent in 40 years.
“We are determined… not just to talk but also to… create real partnerships and to show our commitment in the form of investments,” US-ABC President and former US Ambassador to Vietnam Theodore George Osius III said during a visit by the delegation to Malacañan Palace on Wednesday.
Meeting with the US businesses, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. cited the need for such partnerships to advance the Philippine economy and mitigate the effects of climate change.
“I recognize the critical role that the US and American businesses have played in advancing a robust and inclusive economic growth in the Philippines, not only in this period but for a very long time,” Mr. Marcos said, adding that the country is actively participating in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity.
The framework aims to boost collaboration between the US and the Asia-Pacific, Oceania, East and South Asia, whose goals include developing clean energy solutions.
The President in his foreign trips has urged foreign companies to invest in Philippine green energy.
US-ABC has over 170 members worldwide that generate about $7 trillion in combined revenue and employ more than 14.5 million workers.
Mr. Marcos told the delegation that he will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in November in San Francisco, California.
He said his priorities in the discussions were energy security and tapping technology to bring forward renewable energy adoption.
Democratic US Senator Ladda Tammy Duckworth, who visited the country on Tuesday, told Mr. Marcos that the US is also interested in collaborating with the Philippines in producing electronic vehicle batteries.
“All efforts to increase the number of power sources lean towards clean energy,” the President said.
“With energy security high in the economic agenda, we are particularly interested in sustainable land, water, and ocean solutions that align with our climate goals and support our plans to transform the Philippines into an upper middle-income country by 2025.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez