President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is set to participate in events that would specifically promote the country’s trade and investment during his attendance at the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia in September, an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

“The President will also be attending events specifically to pitch trade and investment in Indonesia – one of them will be a meeting with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council and another one with certain businesses who intend to expand their presence in the Philippines,” DFA Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu said in a Palace briefing.

Espiritu said prominent companies are set to participate in these meetings including WIR Asia, which aims to infuse $20-million to expand innovations in metaverse and artificial intelligence applications within its existing subsidiary in the Philippines.

Pasifik Satelit Nusantara, who previously signed a letter of intent with the Philippines in September 2022, will also join the meeting to provide updates to the President about their ongoing project progress and their satellite’s upcoming launch in December 2023.

The company is planning to allocate 13.5 gigabytes per second of bandwidth for the Philippines, supporting the administration’s bid to enhance the country’s connectivity.

Indonesian laboratories namely Darya-Varia Laboratoria and Vaksindo Satwa Nusantara have also expressed their plans to provide the Philippines with Avian influenza vaccines, according to Espiritu.

Espiritu said that these opportunities are currently in the pipeline, and could develop into potential future endeavors. PND