BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei—President Marcos has encouraged Filipinos here to return to the Philippines someday and invest.

Marcos made the call to overseas Filipinos as he cited that their remittances play a huge part in the country's economy which, he said, is now "looking up."

"Alam po natin na kapag masigla ang ekonomiya, maayos ang kabuhayan (We know that when the economy is robust, livelihoods are good). Things are looking up for the economy," he said in his speech during his meeting with the Filipino community here on Tuesday, May 28.

"Bukod sa mga remittances na nanggagaling sa inyo, sa ating mga OFW (Aside from the remittances coming from our overseas Filipino workers), I also encourage all of you to someday to return, and invest, and set up your own business at home and in the Philippines," he added.

Marcos also reiterated his vision that "working abroad will become only a career choice and not the only option," adding that his administration is intensifying efforts to attract more investments for the country to provide employment opportunities for Filipinos.

The President told Filipinos in Brunei Darussalam that jobs are being created in the Philippines by investments reaching P1.26 trillion in 2023.

He said the P1.26 trillion in investments surpassed the initial optimism of the government when it set a P1.151-trillion target.

“To far exceed this mark, by reaching P 1.26 trillion, is a clear testament to the growing confidence of investors in fostering their businesses’ growth within the Philippines. Upon full operations, the projects are expected to produce 49,030 jobs for Filipinos,” Marcos said.

There are almost 23,000 Filipinos in Brunei, over 22,000 of them are migrant workers.

Of the number of Filipinos here, 14,121 of them are semi-skilled workers, over 3,362 are highly-skilled workers, over 2,690 are professionals, and 2,242 are domestic helpers.