09 March 2016 – Following a successful holding of the first Philippine Business Investment Forum (PBIF) at Sheraton Times Square on March 03, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. and Philippine Consul General to New York Mario L. De Leon, Jr., hosted a congratulatory dinner at the Official Residence for Philippine and American government and corporate officials.
The PBIF Forum, which aimed to promote investing opportunities for international enterprises in the Philippines to foreign corporate investors, was jointly organized by the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., the Philippine Consulate General in New York, the Philippine Trade and Investment Office (PTIC), the U.S.-Philippines Society, and Invivalink, a destination branding company and global events specialist company.
The dinner was attended by the country’s top economic managers, panelists and participants led by Philippine Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima; Former Secretary of Trade and Industry (DTI) Gregory Domingo; Chairman Arsenio M. Balisacan of the Philippine Competition Commission; Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes of the Department of Agrarian Reform; and Philippine private sector participants, namely, Atty. Alexander B. Cabrera, Chairman & Senior Partner of PwC Philippines; Mr. Lorenzo Tan, President & CEP of the Bankers Association of the Philippines; U.S. government official Mr. Andrew Edlefsen, Las Vegas Director and Global Asia Team Leader for Global Markets, U.S. Department of Commerce; and U.S. private sector officials Mr. Jay Collins, Vice Chairman for Corporate and Investment Banking at Citigroup; Mr. Jon Huenemann, Vice President for US & International Affairs at Philip Morris International, and retired Ambassador John Maisto, President of the US-Philippines Society.
Also in attendance were the Philippines’ Investment Promotion Agencies led by DTI Undersecretary Nora Terrado; Ma. Aurora Geotina-Garcia, Chairperson, Bases Conversion and Development Authority; Eliseo B. Santiago, Chairman, Clark Freeport Zone/Clark Development Cooperation; Roberto Garcia, Chairman & Administrator, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority; Deogracias Custodio, Chairman, Freeport Area of Bataan; Christopher Lawrence Arnuco, Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (SEZA); and Jose Mari B. Ponce, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority.
During a program prior to the dinner, Ambassador Cuisia heaped praise upon the IPAs and delegates for actively promoting the rich economic and investment potential in the Philippines to the PBIF attendees, including the country’s different development zones, and noted how he sensed a keen interest upon several of the attending corporate officials with whom he spoked with in exploring trade and investment opportunities with the Philippines.
Consul General De Leon acknowledged the PBIF speakers and delegates for raising the international competitiveness profile of the Philippines, and that efforts in improving the infrastructure of the country have been evident in the rise of such economic hubs as Subic Bay, Zambales, Clark, Cagayan, Bataan, and Pampanga which had a direct impact in uplifting the lives of Filipinos by increasing employment and manufacturing activities in these regions.
Ambassador Cuisia and Consul General De Leon made Economic Roadshows a regular and effective platform to bring the Philippine economic success narrative to the broader U.S. audience with the hope of encouraging more American business to consider the country for investment opportunities. In the last four years during the term of Consul General De Leon, various Economic Roadshows were held in the US Northeast, particularly in Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and twice in New York City. END