JAKARTA, Indonesia — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will be flying to the United States (US) in November for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in California, which could also possibly result in trips to other cities in the US West Coast and Hawaii.

This was disclosed by Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, who noted that these trips to the other major US cities, apart from his APEC stint in San Francisco, would mainly involve meeting with Filipino communities and potential investors.

Romualdez was interviewed at the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit being held here until Sept. 7, 2023.

Romualdez said Marcos will have a “very, very busy” schedule for his trip to the US in November since he is planning to go to two other cities, apart from San Francisco, California, where the APEC Leaders Meeting is slated.

“It’s going to be a very, very (busy schedule)… I would say, very tight schedule, again, for the President because the Summit will actually start on Nov. 15 up to the 18th,” he said.

“And then the President plans to visit another city on the West Coast, and then from there possibly go to other — maybe, we’re still trying to work out a short stay, a short visit to Honolulu,” he added.

According to Romualdez, while the details surrounding the President’s trip to the US were still being ironed out, it could also be surmised that Marcos will have a stop in Hawaii where a meeting is being set up for potential investors to the country.

“(Besides) there’s a large Filipino community there (Hawaii). But all of these schedules are being worked out,” he said.

But Romualdez was quick to point out that the bulk of the interest from US firms could be among technology and financial companies that are based in Silicon Valley.

“The Silicon Valley tech companies are very eager to meet with him. There’s also quite a number of requests from financial institutions,” Romualdez said.

“There are also companies in the manufacturing business in the West Coast, and probably a follow-up on the modular nuclear power plants that we’ve been talking about, and a number of companies that are based in the West Coast,” he added.

But regardless of where he goes in the November trip to the US — be it in Hawaii or the West Coast, Romualdez underscored that “there’s a lot of interest, really, now in the Philippines, from many companies.”

It will be the third visit of Marcos to the US since assuming office. His first was to New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September 2022, followed by his State Visit to Washington, DC, in late April this year.