PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III arrived early Tuesday morning from his successful week-long trip to the United States which, he said, had garnered for the country $2.4-billion in new investments.
In his arrival speech at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Centennial Terminal II, the Chief Executive said officials of top firms from the US, Malaysia and Singapore had expressed their intentions of expanding relations between our countries by pouring more of their respective investments here.
The President noted that company officials wanted to expand their scope of operations in the country due to the renewed vigor and confidence of the Philippines under his administration.
“In the last week during our visit to the United States, we were able to send our message across: the Philippines is open for business,” the President said after deplaning from his commercial flight from San Franciso, USA at around 4 a.m.
President Aquino also said that officials of top US companies Coca-Cola, Pfizer, AES, Hewlett-Packard, JP Morgan Chase, Sutherland Global Services, Inc., Century Properties, General Electric, Headstrong Corporation, SPI Global and Affinity Express have also expressed their desire to open and expand their operations in the country covering a “wide range of sectors such as power generation and consumer products, business and knowledge process outsourcing, healthcare and garments and leather goods.”
“We were able to secure a commitment of at least 43,615 new jobs in the next three years including some 4,500 in construction related jobs and because of the multiplier effect, we estimate some 200,000 more jobs to benefit our countrymen,” he added.
“AES, a global power company, will expand the capacity of the Masinloc power plant by up to 660 megawatts with a project cost of $1-billion,” the President stressed.
“Coca-Cola will invest another billion dollars in their upgrading and replacement of equipment and creation of new products and processes, while the other companies are investing another $400-million,” he said.
According to the President, his visit to the United States “enabled us to generate $2.4-billion in new investments.”
“Furthermore, we received an additional $434-million in the form of a grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation to expand the coverage of existing social programs that have been performing outstandingly,” he said.
He called on all Filipinos, especially those who continue to criticize his government to put aside their rantings and join him and his government’s advocacy to lift the lives of the citizenry through hard work and perseverance. (PCOO/PIA)
