President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. of the Philippines has successfully garnered over 200,000 job opportunities for Filipinos following his international visits from late 2022 through 2023. This achievement is in addition to securing billions of pesos in investment pledges, as reported by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The DTI detailed the impressive job opportunities amassed from various state visits. In 2022, President Marcos’ trips resulted in significant employment prospects: 7,100 jobs from Indonesia (Sept 4-6), around 14,932 from Singapore (Sept 6-7), and a massive 98,000 from New York (Sept 18-24). His visits to Thailand (Nov 16-19), Belgium (Dec 11-14), and the Netherlands (Dec 15-17) further contributed with 5,500, 6,480, and 730 job opportunities, respectively.
The momentum continued into 2023, with notable outcomes from his travels. The visit to China (Jan 3-5) alone promised 32,722 jobs. Subsequent visits to Japan (Feb 8-12), Washington, DC (Apr 30-May 4), and Malaysia (July 25-27) brought in 24,000, 6,386, and 8,365 job opportunities, respectively. Further trips to Singapore (Sept 14-17), the US (Nov 14-17), and Japan again (Dec 15-18) collectively added another 18,750 job prospects.
Highlighting the tangible impacts of these visits, Presidential Adviser on Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go confirmed that investment pledges from Japan, worth PhP169 billion, have already been realized, creating thousands of jobs in the Philippines.
