BIZ BUZZ: Two tycoons troop to Trump HQ
President Marcos’ visit to Washington D.C. has been all about negotiating a better tariff deal. This is something that experts say, in the end, may not exactly be that beneficial to the Philippines. But there’s something else we noticed.
A closer look at a video uploaded on the Facebook page of state-owned RTV Malacañang reveals that there’s another familiar face with Mr. Marcos in the United States: billionaire and port tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.
We’re not exactly privy to the details, given that other Cabinet officials and guests have made themselves scarce during the Washington visit. But we’re seeing that Razon was seen in a meeting with America’s “leading investment firms.”
These were global investment firm KKR Co. Inc.; Cerberus, an alternative investment advisor with around $65 billion in assets; and I Squared, an independent global infrastructure investor.
We’re hoping to get a hint of what this was all about soon, but Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez, also the cousin of President Marcos, says these investors were mostly interested in expanding their presence in the Philippines and perhaps exploring the healt-care industry.
Another tycoon in our Washington radar is the Aboitiz Group’s Sabin Aboitiz. Like Razon, he was also present during Mr. Marcos’ trip to Davos in 2023 at the World Economic Forum.
It’s pretty common now that business leaders back the President in their official meetings abroad, perhaps to grow their already wide network. As to whether these meetings will bear fruit for the tycoons’ companies, we’ve yet to know. Abangan!
