PHILIPPINE TOP ECONOMIC MANAGERS PROMOTE PHILIPPINE GROWTH STORY TO GERMANY INVESTORS

 

23 January 2023 — Philippine Secretary of Finance Benjamin Diokno led top Philippine economic managers in briefing German investors, chamber of commerce officials, and representatives of financial institutions on the latest developments on the Philippine economy in Frankfurt, Germany today.

Secretary Diokno discussed the Philippines’ sound macroeconomic fundamentals and structural reforms which enabled the Philippine economy to weather the pandemic and position itself as one of the rising economies in Asia. He cited the recently-enacted Foreign Investments Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Act and Public Service Act as doors to greater partnership between the Philippines and the international investing community.

Secretary Arsenio Balisacan gave an overview of the Philippine economic agenda, which aims to reinvigorate job creation and accelerate poverty reduction, steer the economy back to the high-growth path and effect economic transformation.

Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman discussed the Marcos Administration’s priority expenditures under the 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda, which includes agricultural modernization and food security, infrastructure development, accelerating climate action, digital transformation, revitalizing education, strengthened social protection and healthcare systems.

Governor Felipe M. Medalla explained the monetary, external, and financial sector performance and outlook and government’s strategies to manage inflation and ensure price stability.

The economic team seeks to achieve three broad development goals, namely, (1) reduce the deficit-to-GDP ratio to pre-pandemic rates, (2) bring down poverty incidence to single-digit, and (3) achieve upper-middle-income status for the Philippines by 2028.

The economic team took questions from the floor on, among others, opening up the construction industry to investors, the improvement of export processes through letters of credit, and investment opportunities for digital healthcare, the steel industry and infrastructure.

Ambassador-Designate Irene Susan B. Natividad opened the briefing and underscored the importance of the partnership between Germany and the Philippines. In 2021, Germany ranked 12th among the Philippines’ trading partners with total bilateral trade at US$4.9 Billion. Germany was also the Philippines’ 14th import supplier, its 7th largest export market and its 10th largest source of approved foreign investments.

The Philippine Economic Briefing is led by the Department of Finance and co-organized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, in partnership with the Bank of America Securities, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered Bank, UBS, the German-Philippines Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Embassy of the Philippines in Berlin, the Consulate General in Frankfurt and the Philippine Trade and Investment Center.

The speakers’ presentations may be accessed through https://www.bsp.gov.ph/Pages/IRO.aspx (END)

PHILIPPINE EMBASSY ATTENDS NEW YEAR’S RECEPTION OF GERMAN FEDERAL PRESIDENT

German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier hosted a New Year Reception for more than 160 ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions and international organizations.

In his message, the President highlighted the commemoration of  the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He called for the strengthening of shared democratic values and cooperation, especially in the midst of crises – like the war in Ukraine and global climate change.

He said – that despite all the crises – 2022 demonstrated that the will for freedom is indestructible. “Let us make 2023 a year of freedom, cooperation and optimism – and let us work every day to ensure that our hope is well-founded,” the Federal President said.

The reception was held at the Bellevue Palace on 12 January 2023. Philippine Embassy Chargé d’affaires, a.i. Lillibeth V. Pono attended the event. (END)