Philcongen San Francisco Meets with ADB Director General for Southeast Asia

Right photo: L-R: Consul Vanessa Bago-Llona, Deputy Consul General Raquel R. Solano, ADB DG Ramesh Subramaniam, Consul General Neil Frank R. Ferrer, Consul Jed Martin Llona, and Vice Consul Adrian Audrey Baccay. (Photos from SFPCG)

SAN FRANCISCO, 06 December 2021 - Philippine Consul General to San Francisco Neil Frank R. Ferrer met with Asian Development Bank (ADB) Director General for Southeast Asia Regional Department Ramesh Subramaniam at the Consulate General on 18 November 2021. During the meeting, DG Subramaniam delivered a presentation about ADB’s support for the Philippines and the country’s economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

DG’s Subramaniam presentation highlighted bright spots in the Philippine economy and noted that accommodative fiscal and monetary policies, sustained growth in public infrastructure investment, relaxation in mobility restrictions in the National Capital Region and progress in the national vaccination program are driving growth in the country.

He also lauded the Philippine Government’s “Build, Build, Build” national infrastructure development program and cited the infrastructure and socio-economic development projects in the Philippines that the ADB supports. DG Subramaniam likewise mentioned socio-economic development projects, including support for the vaccination efforts of the Philippine Government and ADB’s support for social protection in the Philippines, particularly in terms of the conditional cash transfer of the Philippine Government or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). He shared that ADB’s support for the social protection program of the Philippines will continue with the Expanded Social Assistance Project, which was approved in 2020.

The DG, however, said that the sustained economic recovery is not without risks, especially in terms of the spread of new, highly transmissible COVID-19 variants and return to stricter containment measures. He cited that these could pose a challenge on employment, for one.

Consul General Ferrer thanked DG Subramaniam for his presentation and welcomed the ADB’s GDP growth forecasts of at least 4.5% for 2021 and 5.5% for 2022 for the Philippines. Established in 1966, the ADB is headquartered in Manila, Philippines.

Deputy Consul General Raquel R. Solano, Consuls Jed Martin Llona and Vanessa Bago-Llona, as well as Vice Consul Adrian Audrey Baccay, joined the meeting. END

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