-
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. secured investment pledges worth $4 billion (P220 billion) from German companies during a three-day working visit to Berlin
-
The investments were garnered during the Philippine-Germany Business Forum, organized by the Department of Trade and Industry
-
Of the eight agreements, three are letters of intent, two MOAs and three MOUs
-
The investment deals cover key sectors such as mobility solutions, software services, manufacturing, logistics, energy, security systems, and healthcare
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. secured investment pledges worth $4 billion (P220 billion) from various German companies during a three-day working visit to Berlin.
The investments were garnered during the Philippine-Germany Business Forum, organized by the Department of Trade and Industry on March 12.
Among the eight agreements, three are letters of intent, two are memoranda of agreement and three are memoranda of understanding.
The first LOI aims to establish a partner hospital to serve as a training center for other lower-tier hospitals, while the second focuses on developing an Innovation Think Tank hub and “spoke model” to foster an inclusive innovation ecosystem in the Philippines.
The third LOI is for a strategic and digital healthcare partnership with the Department of Health, to revolutionize healthcare in the Philippines to ensure safety, quality, accessibility, and affordability.
A MOA was inked between the Philippine government and a German company through a Public-Private Partnership to rehabilitate, reclaim, and recultivate degraded farmlands in the Philippines. Another MOA aims to expand collaborations in various sectors, including mobility solutions, software services, manufacturing, logistics, energy, security systems, and healthcare.
Three MOUs included agreements to invest in a fully integrated solar cell manufacturing facility and a manufacturing facility for high-end customized automobiles into “high-end 1 of 1 version” and military-grade armored personnel carriers for the Asian market.
The third MOU is for establishing data centers to host a digital insurance platform serving the Philippines and the ASEAN region.
Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual in a speech at the forum said: “These agreements only signify the confidence that German businesses placed in the Philippines, but they also underscore the alignment of our economic priorities. Spanning key sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, innovation, agriculture, and renewable energy, these ventures hold promise of shared prosperity and sustainable development.”
The forum was attended by officials of over 100 German businesses from the electronics, manufacturing, IT, energy, finance, aerospace, telecommunications, infrastructure, and transport sectors. It was co-organized by the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC)-Berlin in collaboration with the Asien Pazifik Auschuss (APA/Asia Pacific Committee of the German Business) and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
APA is an umbrella organization comprised of the Federation of German Industries, the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the German Asia-Pacific Business Association, The Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services, and the Association of German Banks.
During the business forum, APA was represented by its Chairman, Dr. Roland Busch, currently heading the Siemens Group which is the largest industrial manufacturing conglomerate in Europe. On the other hand, BMWK was represented by Stefan Wenzel, BMWK’s Parliamentary State Secretary.
A panel discussion was also held and moderated by Stephan Schmidt of the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce, featuring Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala, Chief Executive Officer of AC Motors Group, and representatives of German companies with operations in the Philippines, alongside Vijay Ratnapharke, Bosch President for Southeast Asia.
The Presidential Communications Office cited Marcos as the first Philippine president to address German business leaders in a decade.
