US companies invest more than bln USD in Philippines

KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 (KUNA) -- The United States Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said during an official visit to Manila on Monday that American companies are set to announce investments of more than a USD billion in the Philippines.

In a joint statement with her Filipino counterpart Alfredo Pascual, she mentioned that the investments will span areas like solar energy, electric vehicles and digitization.
She added that the American companies are keen to do business in the Philippines, saying that the US-Philippine alliance has been preserved for 72 years and will remain loyal friends and partners in prosperity.
She pointed that the Philippines has a 73-year-old mutual defense treaty with the U.S., making it Washington's oldest treaty ally in the Asia-Pacific region.
Raimondo is heading a two-day trade and investment mission in the Philippines on behalf of the United States president Joe Biden, the delegation includes executives from 22 companies including United Airlines, Alphabet's Google, Visa, KKR Asia Pacific and Microsoft. (end) aab.gaa.