Marcos ‘very excited’ on Pax Silica’; touts reforms before investors in Singapore
SINGAPORE – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. touted the Philippine government’s efforts to harbor a resilient investment climate and expressed enthusiasm about the country before hundreds of global business leaders and investors in Singapore.
Marcos Jr. participated at the 24th Forbes Global CEO Conference at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore on Thursday, October 8 as he kickstarted his five-day working visit.
There, he sat down with Forbes Media Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes. There, he touted reforms in the Philippine’s investment climate such as ease of doing business, digitalization and government partnership with the private sector among others.
Marcos Jr. also took pride in the Philippine’s “young, knowledgeable and well-trained” workforce, noting that Filipinos are “very accustomed to working with foreign entities” due to a “very extensive diaspora”.
“We are English speakers, and that is to the advantage because the language of the Internet, for better or for worse, is in fact English,” he said.
“And so to develop that, to recognize the fact that our workforce is our greatest asset, and recognizing that technology and business and the world in general is moving and progressing so quickly, then we have put a lot of our effort into education, basic education, and of course the upskilling, reskilling, these are the buzzwords of the day, of our workforce”, he added.
Asked by Forbes about the US-led initiative Pax Silica, the chief executive said it is “one of the big areas that we’re very excited about”.
Marcos Jr. said they were already talking about moving up the value chain in the PH semiconductor industry when the Pax Silica initiative came along.
“We saw that it was a grand opportunity for the Philippines to inhabit more of the value chain that we already have begun,” he said.
The president called the initiative “ideal” as he looks forward for the ASEAN to strengthen its framework on artificial intelligence, noting that the regional bloc “was not discussing [AI] enough”.
A Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) will be adopted by ASEAN member-states to be formalized at the 49th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in November in Manila, according to Marcos.
Marcos Jr. also asserted the Philippine’s stance on the West Philippine Sea and touted its name, as he expressed ‘continued optimism’ on the conclusion of the long-awaited Code of Conduct in the South China Sea between ASEAN member-states and China.
“The discussions have been going on for a while, and sometimes it’s a bit frustrating that just the definitions of ordinary words are becoming bones of contention. But we are determined to come to an agreement and to hopefully de-escalate the situation,” he said.