The United States Presidential Trade and Investment Mission in the Philippines from March 11 to 12 would further boost the business partnerships of both countries.

This was emphasized by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Foreign Trade Service officer Jollan Margaret Llaneza during the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

The said mission, sent by US President Joe Biden, will be headed by US Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and joined by 22 high-level business executives.

Llaneza said, “There will be a high-level delegation comprised of 22 business delegates, C-level [CEO, Chairman, Chief level] representatives from strategic sectors and they will discuss here next week how to enhance our trade and investment relations.”

“Our goal here is, of course, to foster the relationship of our Philippine business sector with their American counterparts so we will have commercially meaningful partnerships,” she added.

Llaneza noted that in terms of trade and investment relations, the US is one of the Philippines’ top three trading partners, along with Japan and China, as she highlighted that the US delegation will be exploring further business opportunities in the Philippines as part of the two nations’ commitment to further boost their commercial ties.

Among the top-level business executives in the delegation led by Secretary Raimondo are from the power sector, namely: GreenFire Energy, Inc. President Steven Brown; Sol-Go Chairman of the Board and CEO Scott McHugo; Marquis Co-Founder, Vice President and Director of Marketing Thomas Marquis; and Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. (USNC) Founder and CEO Francesco Venneri.

Also joining are giants among digital and technology firms such as Google, to be led by its Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier VP Sapna Chadha; Microsoft Corp.’s Office of the President Global Strategic Initiatives VP Mary Snapp; UltraPass ID Co-Founder and CEO Eric Starr; InnovationForce Founder and CEO Kimberly Getgen; and EchoStar/DISH Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board Charlie Ergen.

Prominent payment service companies are also participating in the mission including Visa Inc. Asia Pacific Chairman Chris Clark and Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth Founder and President and EVP for Sustainability Shamina Singh.

Leading US logistics companies FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS) will be represented by their Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa Region President Kawal Preet, and EVP and Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer Laura Lane, respectively.

Other notable participants are United Airlines President Brett Hart, Capital One Philippines president Sara Murphy, Black & Veatch Corp. Asia Pacific and India President Narsingh Chaudhary, Boston Consulting Group Global Chairman Rich Lesser, Bechtel East Asia and Pacific Regional President Anne-Marie Padgett, and KKR Head of Asia Pacific Infrastructure and Co-Head of KKR Asia Pacific David Luboff.

The high-level delegation likewise includes US President’s Export Council Chairman Mark Ein, US-ASEAN Business Council President and CEO Ted Osius, and Apl.de.Ap Foundation International Founder Allan Pineda, also known as Apl.de.Ap.

During the visit, Sec. Raimondo will also be meeting with the DTI, as well as with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) and Philippine business organizations.

📷: U.S. Department of Commerce website