P6.2 billion investment deals seen in Marcos’ Brussels trip

MANILA, Philippines — At least P6.2 billion worth of investment deals are expected to be sealed during President Marcos’ visit to Brussels, Belgium for the European Union-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Commemorative Summit from Dec. 12 to 14.

Among the business executives the President is expected to meet are from Unilever, AUSEA, Acciona and SEMMARIS, according to Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu.

“So this will be a very busy trip for the President and we hope that this will redound to a lot of benefits for the Filipino people, not only for ASEAN,” Espiritu said during a pre-departure briefing at Malacañang yesterday.

He said the President will have one-on-one meetings on Dec. 14 with executives of European corporations which seek to expand their presence in the Philippines.

Unilever intends to invest in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for personnel care products in Cavite amounting to P4.7 billion, according to Espiritu.

The President is also scheduled to meet with officials of Ocea, a ship-building and navigation and logistics company, which plans to develop a shipyard with an investment of P1.5 billion.

He will likewise meet with representatives of Acciona, which has expressed interest in investing in the renewable sector in the Philippines.

The President will also sit down with officials of SEMMARIS, which intends to develop agro-logistics at the New Clark City by building and operating a wholesale market for fresh products with an organized and efficient food supply and value chain.

Marcos will also participate in the C-suite or the CEO Suite Luncheon for the EU-ASEAN Business Summit and the 10th ASEAN-EU Business Summit.

“There will be business roundtable with EU and European corporations during which the President will have the opportunity to expound on our trade and investment policies to attract trade and investments from Europe,” Espiritu said.

10 bilateral meetings

Meanwhile, the President is set to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Belgium, Estonia, Czech Republic, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Finland, Netherlands and leaders of the EU.

Espiritu said the President’s meeting with King Philippe of Belgium will coincide with the commemoration of the 76th year of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“And at the same time, this intends to expand cooperation between this country, our country and Belgium in terms of agricultural cooperation and renewable energy,” he said.

During his meeting with Estonian leaders, Marcos is expected to discuss cyber cooperation and a pending extradition treaty.

Espiritu said the President’s meeting with the Czech Republic leader is also significant, as the two countries will celebrate their 50th year of diplomatic ties.

“Czech Republic is also important because we have defense cooperation with the Czech Republic and there are also proposed technology transfers in the realm of defense,” he said.

Espiritu likewise stressed the importance of Marcos’ meeting with the leader of Spain, noting the defense cooperation between the two nations. He said the Philippines also purchased some heavy-lift air transports from Spain.

Denmark and the Philippines will also celebrate their 75th year of bilateral cooperation, the official said.

“And Denmark is important because we have maritime cooperation with Denmark as well as shipbuilding cooperation,” he said.

He said the President is likely to tackle the pending Philippine-EU Free Trade Agreement during his meeting with leaders of the bloc.