Marcos Jr draws ‘very positive response’ from CEOs, Palace says

Grab founder Antony Tan (center)

DAVOS – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s bid to put the Philippines on the radar of global investors began on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meetings, drawing “a very positive response” from some of the world’s top CEOs and investment experts.

This is according to Communications Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil, commenting after a dinner on Monday hosted for the President by Grab chair and CEO Anthony Tan on the sidelines of the WEF annual meetings.

Grab has been operating in the Philippines in the last 11 years, evolving from a ride-hailing app into a superapp for everyday needs.

The dinner organized by Tan was attended by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy; Unilever CEO Alan Jope; Heineken CEO Dolf van den Brink; Rachel Lord, head of Asia at BlackRock, one of the largest investment firms in the world, and Bill Ford, CEO of General Atlantic, one of the largest equity firms in the world.

Also present were: Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs and Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia ; Affinity Partners Jared Kushner; Economist editor-in-chief Patrick Foulis, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now executive chair of Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who was present during the dinner, said, “Everyone was excited about the Philippine recovery story and agreed that it is the future investor haven for western capital.”

The other guests were Bambang Susantono, chair of ID New Capital City Authority, Thailand Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith and KADIN chair Arsjad Rasjid.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista also joined the dinner.