President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s first participation at the ASEAN-EU Summit is expected to generate billions of investments for the Philippines as well as hundreds of new jobs for the Filipinos, an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.
DFA Assistant Secretary for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Affairs Daniel Espiritu said Marcos will be "very busy" during his trip to Belgium next week as he is set to deliver speeches, hold bilateral talks with fellow leaders and more importantly, pitch for investments from European companies at the sidelines of the ASEAN-European Union (EU) Summit.
Marcos will be in Brussels from December 12 to 14.
Among companies he will talk with are consumer goods producer Unilever, shipbuilder Ocea, and energy provider Acciona.
Speaking with reporters at a press conference, Espiritu said Marcos' meeting with Unilever will be "important because this corporation is intending to establish a new state of the art manufacturing facility for personal care products in Cavite."
"So, expansion of investments ito, to the tune of P4.7 billion, now expected to generate at least 130 projected employment for the Philippines," he said.
According to Espiritu, the President is also expected to polish deals with Ocea as it is considering building a shipyard in the country, with an investment of P1.5 billion.
The move, he said, will create around 600 direct and indirect jobs for the Filipinos.
Marcos will also meet with leaders of other companies in the renewable energy and food and supply chain sectors, added Espiritu.
"So these are only among the few companies na kakausapin ni President (with which the President will talk to), which we believe will expand investments in the Philippines and therefore generate more jobs," he added.