Marcos cites deeper ties after Canada visit
President Marcos returned to Manila on Sunday, citing the gains in his “productive” four-day visit to Canada, including some $2.5 billion in investment commitments and the start of the two nations’ strategic partnership in their 77-year-old diplomatic ties.
The President directed Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro to work together with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand “to create a plan of action focusing on joint initiatives that will help both our countries adapt to shifting global realities, address shared challenges, and build capacities for future ready partnerships.”
During their bilateral meeting on July 2, Prime Minister Mark Carney told Mr. Marcos of Canada’s plan to participate in the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) with an initial investment pledge of $1.4 million (P87 million) to support infrastructure, the supply chain and clean energy projects within the LEC.
The LEC is a trilateral initiative of the United States. As of May, it now engages with eight other partners—including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom—to create mutual economic growth, generate jobs, strengthen connectivity, and improve transport and logistics, energy, and digital infrastructure along the corridor connecting Subic Bay, Clark, Manila and Batangas.
Mr. Marcos also met with officials of Canada’s top economic players.
“Some of them have been actively engaged already in the Philippines and they employ thousands of workers. However, we still look forward to the eventual entry of more Canadian companies into the Philippines’ investment landscape,” he said.
Canadian businesses
The President said meetings with Canadian business leaders resulted in $2.5 billion in investment commitments covering mining, critical minerals, energy, services, and information technology and business process management.
He said the discussions reinforced the Philippines’ position as a competitive investment destination and reliable partner for Canadian businesses seeking to expand their presence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Among the companies eyeing business expansion in the country are B2Gold Corp., OceanaGold Corp., Telus Corp. and NQX.
Other companies that joined the roundtable discussions with Mr. Marcos were Blackberry, CGI, Everise, ManuLife, OpenText, Sun Life and InTouchCX.
Free trade pact
With the investment commitments of Canadian firms, Marcos said it was “already timely” that Manila and Ottawa finalize the negotiations of a free trade agreement this year.
Marcos expects the landmark agreement to usher in more robust bilateral trade, strategic investment and seamless economic cooperation, providing a permanent and predictable framework to accelerate the digital partnerships.
Should it enter into force, the FTA with Canada will be the first-ever bilateral trade pact that the Philippines will forge with a North American partner.
The Philippines has no FTA with the United States, despite being treaty allies.
Mr. Marcos and Carney also committed to finalize the Asean-Canada FTA, a regional free trade setup that will cover the nine other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which the Philippines chairs this year.
The two countries also signed agreements that will harness the strength of Filipino migrant labor which will serve to advance the welfare and security of the more than 1 million Filipinos in Canada.
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