BANGKOK, Thailand—President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Saturday met with Thailand’s top business leaders, inviting them to invest in the Philippines particularly as the administration goes full throttle on its Build, Build, Build infrastructure program.
The Philippines values its economic partnership with Thailand, President Duterte said in his remarks during the meeting, adding he is pleased with the current investments in the country and hopes they will continue to increase.
He expressed his gratitude to Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group and Erawan Group for their current investments in the Philippines’ food industry, real estate, and hotel operations. The chief executive encouraged Thai Beverage TCC Group to invest in the real estate and hotel business in the Philippines.
“I invite you to ride on the momentum of Philippine’s growth story and invest, especially in the industrial destinations of Metro Manila, Pampanga, Clark, Cebu, Bohol, and Davao,” President Duterte said.
“The Philippines’ Build, Build, Build is in full swing and you are all welcome to participate. We’re making significant headway in transforming the Philippines into a more stable and secure place for investments,” he added.
With the Philippines’ sound macroeconomics and ongoing bureaucratic reforms, he assured Thai business leaders of competitive and corruption-free business climate coupled with highly skilled and fast-learning workforce.
The Charoen Pokphand Group is a Thai conglomerate based in Bangkok and Thailand’s largest private company. It is one of the world’s biggest conglomerates with three core businesses that operate in agribusiness and food, retail and distribution, and the telecommunications industries, among others.
TCC Group, on the other hand, is an industrial conglomerate with operations in food and beverage, industrial and trading, finance and insurance, property and real estate, and agricultural and agro-industrial businesses in Thailand and overseas.
Another Thai company, the Erawan Group, is engaged in hotel and building rental businesses. The company operates hotels and resorts and is also involved in the development of properties, provision of management services, rental of units in office buildings and shopping centers, and ownership of land.
Also present during the President’s meeting with Thai CEOs were Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rolando Bautista, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, Chief Legal Counsel and Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, Senator-elect Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, and Philippine Ambassador to Thailand Mary Jo Bernardo-Aragon. PND
