President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. arrived in Berlin, Germany where he will sit down for a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, March 12, 2024. | PHOTO: Official facebook page of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO)
UPDATED Berlin – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has secured at least $ 4 billion in foreign investments from German businesses aimed at bolstering cooperation in healthcare, information technology, agriculture and manufacturing in the Philippines on the second day of his working visit to Germany.
The eight investment deals were presented and exchanged during Tuesday afternoon’s Philippine-German Business Forum organized by the Department of Trade and Industry and held at the Berlin Marriott Hotel here.
Of the eight agreements, three were letters of intent from different German companies, two memoranda of agreement, and three memoranda of understanding.
In his remarks before German business leaders, Marcos stressed the important role of German businesses in transforming the Philippines’ economy.
“The part that the private sector plays in our transformation is a central one and it is going to be extremely important in the future. And I believe that this is the case in the now more inter-connected global economy,” he said.
The President witnessed the presentation and exchange of eight various memoranda of agreement or understanding and letters of intent – investment deals worth $ 4 billion or P 220 billion to the Philippine economy.
These are the following:
A letter of intent for an $ 150,000 additional investment of a German company in developing a partner hospital to become a training center to support the training needs of other lower tier hospitals and develop a curriculum on imaging technology.
A letter of intent for $ 55,000 additional investment for the development of an innovation think tank hub and spoke model towards developing an inclusive innovation ecosystem.
A memorandum of agreement for a $ 109 million public-private partnership venture to rehabilitate, reclaim and recultivate 5,000 hectares of degraded farm for an organic farming project to sustainably produce high quality, healthy organic food at reasonable prices and help achieve the country’s goal of food security and sovereignty.
A memorandum of understanding for a $ 3.5 billion investment in a fully integrated solar cell manufacturing facility to process silicon sand into high grade silicon ingots, which will be used to produce high grade silicon wafers used in solar cell manufacturing.
READ: Marcos seeks to expand ties with Germany to include maritime
A memorandum of understanding for a $ 71 million investment in a manufacturing facility that will modify automobiles into high-end armor protected cars and manufacture military grade armored personnel carriers for the Asian market.
A memorandum of understanding for a $ 38.25 million investment to put up data centers that will host a digital insurance platform that will serve the Philippines and Southeast Asia and increase insurance penetration in the region, and
A memorandum of agreement to expand potential collaborations in mobility solutions, software services, manufacturing, factory automation, logistics services, energy, security and safety systems for buildings, consumer appliances and healthcare.