PLDT Global and US-Philippines Society Explore Opportunities for U.S. Investors in the Philippines

In a meeting with PLDT Global on May 17, 2023, US-Philippines Society welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with the U.S.-based arm of PLDT Inc. to explore opportunities to entice American investors choose the Philippines as their next expansion site.

Photo: l-r: Charisma Torres-Eleazar (Senior Manager, PLDT Enterprise Business), US-Philippines Society President Amb John F. Maisto, Roselle G. Dela Cruz (VP Americas and EMEA, PLDTUS Enterprise), and Hank Hendrickson, Executive Director, US-Philippines Society) US-Philippines Society Office, Washington DC, 17 May 2023

PLDT Global vice president for Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa Roselle Dela Cruz said the partnership aims to convince US firms to invest in the Philippines. It aims to bring in fresh projects to create jobs and, in the process, grow the economy.

“Our collaboration with US-Philippines Society enables PLDT Global to engage and encourage US businesses to expand their presence in the country, as well as maximize the robust, compliant and resilient network of PLDT,” Dela Cruz said.

Under the tie up, PLDT Global and US-Philippines Society committed to work on summing up the investment process in the Philippines to help potential investors set up shop in the Philippines. PLDT, for its part, hopes to become the business partner of these American investors when they decide to locate an expansion in the country. The telco giant would pitch its portfolio of telco assets, such as its data centers, network infrastructure and subsea cables.

“This can boost the local economy, generate jobs and uplift the lives of Filipinos,” she added.

PLDT Global and the US-Philippines Society initially plan to collaborate on launching a business mixer in Washington within the year. The event seeks to serve as a platform where Philippine and American investors can gather with the objective of building a network, exchanging ideas and exploring opportunities.

US-Philippines Society president Amb (ret) John F. Maisto said, “PLDT could leverage its network investments to persuade US firms to work with it.”

Amb Maisto added it would be easy for the telco giant to convince new investors to locate in the Philippines with the growing opportunities in the digital space, referring to the Marcos administration push for digital infrastructure, and the strategic location of the Philippines as gateway to Asian nations.

Amb Maisto further said that, “With construction underway to boost a robust digital infrastructure, the Philippines will be genuinely open for business, genuinely committed to providing the infrastructure that’s needed to attract the investment that’s needed to promote the growth of the country’s economy and the employment of people and the well-being of the Filipino people.”

The U.S. serves as one of the largest investment sources of the Philippines based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. Capital inflow from the US jumped by 32 percent to P5.06 billion last year, from P3.82 billion in 2021.

PLDT is a leading telecommunications and digital services provider in the Philippines.

The US-Philippines Society is led by co-chairs Amb John D. Negroponte and Manuel V. Pangilinan who is Chairman of PLDT.