Thank you very much, Chief Luke, our ES, Secretary Bersamin. [Please take your seats.]
Our good Vice President and Secretary of DepEd Inday Sara Duterte; House Speaker Martin Romualdez; members of the Cabinet that are here; our new addition to the party is the Batangas 6th District Representative, Congressman Ralph Recto who is joining the House contingent for this trip; and of course, Pasay District Representative Antonino Calixto; AFP Chief of Staff General Romy Brawner and the major service commanders; Philippine National [Police] Chief General Benjamin Acorda Jr.; the Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gavan; Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano, our constant host; and of course, accompanying me on this trip again is our First Lady, First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos; my fellow workers in government; ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
My visit to the United States is on the invitation of President Joe Biden, to participate in the 30th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and related activities in San Francisco. It is my honor to represent the Philippines in the region’s most important platform for trade, investment, and economic cooperation.
The APEC region hosts 38% of the world’s population, 48% of its trade, and 62% of its GDP. The largest segment of our OFWs calls this region their second home. 85% of our trade and our top investors are from this region.
I bring with me your hopes and aspirations for a peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific region where we live. This year, the U.S. chairmanship of APEC set the cross-cutting themes of sustainability, inclusiveness, and resilience as our priority work so that we can build a resilient and interconnected region that advances broad-based economic prosperity, enable an innovative environment to foster a sustainable future, and affirm an equitable and inclusive future for all. For every single Filipino.
The U.S. APEC theme of “Creating a Sustainable and Resilient Future for All” aligns with our national and economic interest to transform the Philippines toward a sustainable future para ang lahat ng Pilipino ay magkaroon ng matatag, maginhawa, at panatag na buhay.
Our APEC work has been focused to prioritize and secure beneficial trade and investment, quality and green jobs, human development and poverty alleviation.
We will be engaging with the leaders of economies of the Asia-Pacific region to agree on how we can achieve food and energy security, economic inclusion of our micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), women, indigenous people, and other segments of our economy whose potential remains to be unlocked through digitalization and innovation, and sustainable development and addressing the climate change crisis.
I will meet with business leaders and conduct roundtable discussions on the APEC sidelines to once again invite investments to seek business opportunities, promote our exports, and discuss our economic agenda.
At the APEC CEO Summit, which is the annual gathering of top CEOs from across the APEC region, I have been invited to deliver the keynote remarks on “intentional equity in sustainability” to share the Philippine experience in ensuring inclusivity on our path to bringing a green economy to the Philippines.
There will be several engagements with private sector representatives from the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) to discuss how we can use public-private partnerships to fulfill our agenda in innovative and sustainable development, finance, and economic and business reform.
It also marks – this trip marks my third visit to the United States as part of our continuing efforts to further reinforce our already strong bond, and a follow through to my Official Working Visit in Washington, D.C. last May, where we underscored the need of forging closer economic ties and ensuring that our bilateral friendship and relationship work for both our peoples.
On the sidelines of the APEC Summit, I expect to witness the signing of a number of government-to-government, public-private, and business agreements, which have been under negotiation over the past several months, covering priority sectors, such as nuclear energy; artificial intelligence to support weather forecasting; health sciences, particularly cancer research, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention; pharmaceutical manufacturing; and satellite connectivity.
As with my previous visits, I expect to meet with American business leaders to further promote trade and investment opportunities here in the Philippines.
Our economic team and I will be joined by a high-profile business delegation in exploring new and expanding partnerships.
From San Francisco, I will also be going to Los Angeles, California and Honolulu, Hawaii.
I look forward to meeting the Filipino Communities there in all three cities. California and Hawaii have the largest concentrations of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans, home to almost half of the 4.2 million Filipinos in the United States, who serve as the bedrock of our bilateral relations.
Mga kababayan, since the start of my administration, we have not wavered in our promise of “not leaving anyone behind” and for a resilient Philippines, where the fruits of our hard work are equitably shared by all.
Ikagagalak ko po ang inyong buong suporta.
Mabuhay tayong lahat. Maraming salamat sa inyo. Magandang gabi po sa inyong lahat. [applause]
— END —
