'Bright future' for business in PH, says Aussie envoy; bats for continuous reforms

Australia believes that the Philippines will have a "very bright" future in terms of business opportunities if the new administration under President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. continues the reforms initiated by the Duterte administration.

Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Steven Robinson said Friday that the business reforms initiated in the last year of the Duterte administration attracted "most businesses," including those that come from Australia, to come here to invest.

"If we continue in the same way that we have been over the last year or so, I think the future is looking very bright. And that's indeed what Australian companies are seeing here in the Philippines now," Robinson said over ANC interview.

The envoy was particularly impressed by Australian companies coming to the Philippines to invest despite the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said these companies "thought that if they can go to the Philippines, they'd be able to get on the ground floor of the recovery."

Robinson did not particularly mention which industries the new companies are coming from, but some investors are interested in green energy, infrastructure and logistics.

"We had lots of Australian companies coming to the Philippines looking to invest and the reason for that was that we saw the Philippines as the real opportunity for the future," he said.