Biden's top-level execs ready for trade, investment mission in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — US President Joe Biden has assembled a high-level US trade and investment mission set to arrive in the Philippines next week to explore business opportunities in the country.

Leading the mission on March 11 to 12, 2024 is Gina Raimondo, Secretary of the US Department of Commerce.

According to the White House, other key figures included in the Presidential Trade and Investment Mission delegation are:

• Steven Brown - President, GreenFire Energy Inc.
• Sapna Chadha - Vice President, Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier, Google Asia Pacific
• Narsingh Chaudhary - President, Asia Pacific and India, Black & Veatch Corp.
• Chris Clark - Chairman, Asia Pacific, Visa Inc.
• Mark Ein - Chairman, President’s Export Council
• Charlie Ergen - Co-Founder/Chairman of the Board, EchoStar/DISH
• Kimberly Getgen - Founder and CEO, InnovationForce
• Brett Hart - President, United Airlines
• Laura Lane - Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer, United Parcel Service (UPS)
• Rich Lesser - Global Chair, Boston Consulting Group
• David Luboff - Partner, Head of Asia Pacific Infrastructure and Co-Head of KKR Asia Pacific, KKR
• Thomas L. Marquis - Co-Founder, Vice President, and Director of Marketing, Marquis
• Scott McHugo - CEO and Chairman of the Board, Sol-Go
• Sara Murphy - President, Capital One Philippines
• Ted Osius - President and CEO, U.S.-ASEAN Business Council
• Anne-Marie Padgett - Regional President, East Asia and Pacific, Bechtel
• Allan Pineda (aka Apl.de.Ap) - Founder, Apl.de.Ap Foundation International
• Kawal Preet - President of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa Region, FedEx
• Shamina Singh - Founder and President, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, and Executive Vice President, Sustainability, Mastercard
• Mary Snapp - Vice President, Global Strategic Initiatives, Office of the President, Microsoft Corp.
• Eric Starr - Co-Founder and CEO, UltraPass ID
• Francesco Venneri - Founder and CEO, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp.

In November last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the plan, saying that the group's visit to the Philippines was upon the request of his administration for US businesses to explore opportunities for investments, particularly in key sectors identified during their meetings in the US.

“We look forward to seeing more of these partnerships materialize in the months ahead, especially with the visit of the high-level US Presidential Trade and Investment Mission in March next year and we are also co-hosting the 2024 Indo-Pacific Business Forum,” Marcos said.

“And this is in fact a new feature as there has never been a presidential high-level delegation to any country before and that is again because of our continuing strong partnership with the United States,” he added.