NEW YORK, USA — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said that the Philippine workforce is the "greatest asset" to bolstering economic transformation amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Marcos said this as he wooed American business leaders at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday afternoon, September 19 (New York time).
In a short interview with NYSE Vice Chairman John Tuttle, the President expressed confidence about the Philippines having a bright future because everyone in the country wanted the same thing.
"There are 110 million Filipinos that are working towards the same goal, and I still believe our workforce is still our greatest asset," he said.
"It is something that we have seen succeed, first of all, with our overseas Filipino workers, but also in the development of the more sophisticated businesses that have come to the country," he added.
According to Marcos, the Philippines offers high-quality labor, a large consumer market, and a wide range of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.
To accelerate economic transformation, the President said his administration is committed to enhancing the country's education system while improving the workforce's technical abilities.
"We will still continue to try and improve the education system in terms of the technical side of our workforce's training. And as we know, because that is becoming more and more important in the world," Marcos said.
The President said the 2022 elections proved crucial in realizing that the youth " drove forward the idea that we must continue to invest in our young people."
"We must continue to train them properly. We must continue to make them competitive anywhere in the world but most hopefully in the Philippines with our partners and with our allies," Marcos said.
For his part, Tuttle said Marcos' presence at the NYSE provided some "renewed sense of optimism" about investment prospects and partnership opportunities in the Philippines.
"I know I speak for many business leaders and investors in this room that they leave today not only with a renewed sense of optimism but a further enhanced and strengthened sense of optimism about the opportunities in the Philippines," he said.