THE country’s large untapped market and promising economic growth were among the factors cited by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. to attract Cambodian businesses to invest in the country.
During his roundtable meeting with Cambodian business leaders on Thursday, Marcos asserted that companies could access millions of local consumers by investing in underdeveloped niches in the domestic market.
“A hundred and seven [million] people is a big market and we have to develop that market. We have not developed our own markets. And I think that is another potential that we can exploit down the road,” Marcos said.
Among the industries, he said, which will need additional investments to expand is manufacturing.
“We are trying to build up the manufacturing side of the economy and that is why capital-intensive investments will be very, very important for us to be able to do that,” Marcos said.
The President said also being eyed are investments in agriculture (mechanization and food processing); micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); energy; and low-cost housing.
These business opportunities, he said, are expected to increase as the local economy is now poised to achieve the government target of 6.5 to 7.5 percent growth by the end of the year.
The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) earlier said the country’s economy already grew by 7.6 percent in the third quarter of 2022, faster than the 7.5 percent expansion in the second quarter of this year.
“It looks like the route that we have taken is taking the economy in the right direction and as I was telling some of the Cabinet members, I think the Philippine economy, the important elements are in place and you can feel that our economy is trying to grow, but is really being pummeled by the forces outside of which we have no control,” Marcos said.
Marcos is currently in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to attend the 40th and 41st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summits from November 8 to 13.
Image credits: Troi Santos