President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday welcomed Singapore’s Temasek Foundation programs to help in efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change and boost food security in the Philippines.
In a meeting at Malacanang Palace, President Marcos said his administration looks forward to several of the projects proposed by Temasek Foundation Board members on climate change and agriculture in the country.
“We’re looking at some of the prospective projects that are directed towards climate change, towards agriculture, and sustainability,” the chief executive told the Temasek executives.
“So anyway, I’m happy that you’re able to come to the Philippines and I’m happy to be able to see that there are potential areas where we can participate [in],” President Marcos added.
A Temasek official, meanwhile, told President Marcos that he had “very good discussions” with Department of Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr., Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma of the Labor department, and migrant workers department chief Toots Ople on collaborations in the future.
In the last three days, the official said they had discussed with the three high-ranking government officials “how to make ourselves useful in the Philippines and also to learn from the Philippines.”
The Singapore delegation is led by Temasek Foundation chair Jennie Chua Kheng Yeng.
Among the attendees were Singaporean Ambassador to the Philippines Gerard Ho Wei Hong, Temasek board members Tony Tan Caktiong, Goh Yong Siang, Arich Rachmat, and Senior Directors Gerald Yeo Teng Han, and James Chan Yong Kiat.
The Temasek Foundation is a Singapore-based non-profit philanthropic organization that funds and supports programs that aim to build capabilities of communities in Asia and beyond through philanthropic endowments gifted by Temasek.1 It is an arm of Singapore’s state sovereign fund, Temasek Holdings.
The foundation forged agreements with the Philippines to enhance competencies across industries, through the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) (Digitalization and Industry 4.0) Program, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) with Design Thinking Programme, and Health Care Management Program.
The Philippines and Singapore were looking to renew a 2019 memorandum of understanding between the Philippines’ Department of Education and Nanyang Polytechnic International Temasek Foundation. (PND)
