MANILA -- Philippine trade officials promoted investments in the processing of green metals during President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s visit to Australia last week, with a goal of setting up local minerals processing for added value, according to a trade official on Saturday.
“Sa recent visit po ni Presidente sa Australia, hinihikayat po natin, prinomote (promote) po natin ang mga investments po sa processing ng green metals,” Jollan Margaret Llaneza, the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Foreign Trade Service Officer, said in a news forum in Quezon City.
“Kung mapapansin ninyo po iyong Pilipinas ‘di ba very mountainous po iyong terrain, we’re very rich in green metals resources. So, iyong mga green metals po na ito katulad ng copper, cobalt, nickel, ito pong mga metals na ito ay very critical for the development and deployment of clean technologies katulad ng electric vehicles,” she said.
The current government thrust is to begin local processing of these minerals to ensure higher value and for greater benefit to the economy instead of just exporting ores, Llaneza said.
President Marcos reported that during his trip to Australia, he was able to secure 12 business agreements amounting to US$1.53 billion or PhP86 billion, covering diverse sectors such as renewable energy, clean technology, and recycling solutions, housing, IT-BPM, infrastructure, medical devices, and digital health services.
According to Llaneza, the Marcos government wants investments that are consistent with its Strategic Investment Priorities Plan aimed at acquiring high technology from other countries.
“Iyong paggamit po ng bagong mga disruptive technologies katulad ng artificial intelligence, Big Data – gusto po natin iyon para rin po ma-upskill, reskill po natin ang ating talent workforce na inu-offer din po sa ating mga investors,” she said.
“And siyempre kasama rin po doon iyong transfer of technology para rin po iyong participation natin sa mga global value chains ay mas tumindi, or mas mag-improve pa,” she stressed. (PND)
