AmCham GMLM with Ambassador Romualdez by Chesca Gardaya
“The relationship of the United States and the Philippines is at its best due to the level of respect, mutual dependency and the recognition of both countries’ needs.” This was how Ambassador Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez started off his keynote speech last July 24, 2019 at the AmCham General Membership Luncheon Meeting held at the Dusit Hotel in Makati City.
Amb. Romualdez went on to paint a rosy picture of the relationship between the two countries, talking about various activities of the Philippine embassy in Washington to advance Philippine investment, economy and military armory. He highlighted that the Philippines is making headway in economic growth, bravely stating that it could be a middle-income country by 2022. This makes the country a good business destination for American investors, as it is also seen as an investment hub.
A driving force of the investments in the country is the “Build, Build, Build” program of the government, where a lot of banks have granted loans to the Philippines, thanks to its BBB+ credit rating. It is projected that the Philippine economy will be at US$1 trillion with USD 8,200.00 per capita by 2032. Amb. Romualdez also supports Amb. Sung Kim’s call to invest more in Mindanao, which has been advertised for so long as the land of promise but has yet to fulfill this promise.
In his closing, Amb. Romualdez maintained that despite several people thinking otherwise, the US-Philippine long-term relationship is bigger than any elected leaders of these countries. The alliance has always been and will continue to be robust, and endure because of the people-to-people ties these two countries have. The Philippines has been a logical partner of the US for so long and no country will drive a wedge between them.
He ended the speech by rephrasing a famous line from JFK: “Ask not what AmCham can do for you, but what we can do together for the prosperity of the two nations.”
Please visit and join the John Clements Talent Community.
About the author:
Self-confessed ambivert Chesca is a bibliophile and a music lover. This mother of two loves trying out something new, especially when it comes to food and beauty.
