President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday said his visit to Canada yielded US$2.5 billion (around P153.4 billion) in investment commitments from several Canadian firms.
Speaking during a Kapihan with the Media on Sunday, Marcos said he met with Canadian companies to strengthen cooperation in mining, critical minerals, energy and the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) sector.
“During the high-level roundtable meetings with leading Canadian companies and industry leaders, I underscored the Philippines’ commitment to fostering a competitive, sustainable and innovation-driven economy,” Marcos said.
He added that discussions with IT-BPM firms also focused on establishing global artificial intelligence hubs and learning centers to serve as centralized AI-driven facilities for upskilling their global workforce.
“All these business engagements in the sectors of mining, critical minerals, energy, services and IT-BPM resulted in a combined US$2.5 billion in investments from Canadian partners,” Marcos said.
The President also said he met with officials of Canada’s “key economic players,” some of whom are already operating in the Philippines and employing thousands of workers.
“However, we still look forward to the eventual entry of more Canadian companies into the Philippines’ investment landscape,” he said.
Among the firms Marcos met were B2Gold, OceanaGold, TELUS and NQX.
Marcos also reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Canada in concluding negotiations for the Regional ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement.
“Thus, it is already timely that we are negotiating a free trade agreement with Canada, which we hope will further strengthen our economic cooperation once it enters into force,” he said.
Marcos arrived in Manila at 3:56 p.m. on Sunday.—MCG, GMA News