Bongbong Marcos lauds World Bank for ‘desirable shift’ to help PH economy
World Bank Group President Ajay Banga (L) and President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. | PHOTO: Philippine Communications Office website
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has praised the World Bank for the “desirable shift” in its initiatives to help address post-pandemic challenges confronting the Philippines.
“I have to commend the World Bank because now I’m looking at the list of the programs and projects in the pipeline. And there you can see the very desirable shift from what we were doing before to what we are doing now, post-pandemic,” Marcos said.
In a statement on Friday, the Presidential Communications Office said the President made the statement during his bilateral engagement with World Bank President Ajay Banga on the sidelines of the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Marcos noted that for decades, the Philippines has been a recipient of various grants from the World Bank, one of which is the recently-granted Philippine Second Financial Sector Reform Development Policy financing, amounting to $600 million.
He also took note of several development projects including the Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency Project, the Mindanao Inclusive Agricultural Development Project, and the Philippine Rural Development Program.
“The development programs that the World Bank is bringing to Mindanao, especially at the fundamental basic level in terms of inclusive agriculture development projects, are going to help in the peace process and to normalize the lives of those who were previously part of the secessionist movement of the south,” Marcos said.
Banga, for his part, said the World Bank is committed to boosting its partnership with the Philippines, along with exploring other focused areas for intervention in the coming years.
“We are trying to not only do things with poverty and poverty alleviation but actually move towards all the other things that have intertwined as challenges whether they be poverty, healthcare or, of course, the efforts on human capital, on education, and health and infrastructure and in electronic digital infrastructure,” Banga said.
RELATED STORIES:
World Bank: More efficient social protection for poor Filipinos needed
