World business leaders back BBM’s pitch

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s investment pitch for the Philippines received “a very positive response” from some of the world’s top business leaders, whom he met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, House Speaker Martin Romualdez said on Tuesday.

In a statement on Tuesday, Romualdez said Grab chairperson and chief executive officer Anthony Tan hosted a dinner for the Philippine leader on Monday evening to provide him the opportunity to discuss potential investment opportunities with the world’s leading businessmen.

“Everyone was excited about the Philippine recovery story and agreed that it is the future investor haven for western capital,” said Romualdez, who is part of the official Philippine delegation to Davos.

According to the House chief, among those present during the dinner meeting were: Andy Jassy (CEO of Amazon), Alan Jope (CEO of Unilever), Dolf van den Brink (CEO of Heineken), Bill Ford (CEO of General Atlantic), Rachel Lord (Head of Asia of BlackRock), and Jared Kushner (Founder of Affinity Partners).

Philippine Secretary of Transportation Jaime Bautista, Luhut Pandjaitan (Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs of Republic of Indonesia), BahlilLahadalia (Minister of Investment of Republic of Indonesia), Ark ho m Term pitt a ya pa is i th( Minister of Thailand), Dr. Bambang Susantono (Chairman of ID New Capital City Authority), ArsjadRasjid (Chairman of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Tony Blair (Executive Chairman of Tony Blair Institute for Global Change), and Patrick Foulis, (Editor-in-Chief of Economist) also joined the meeting.

At the WEF, Marcos seeks to “soft launch” the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund in a bid to entice more foreign investments in the country.

The Philippine government is expecting a strong full-year gross domestic product growth for 2023, most likely much faster than its growth target of 6.5 to 7.5 percent.

Considering the expected slowdown of the global economy, the Philippine economy is forecasted to grow by around 6.5 percent this year.