MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will bring home at least $4 billion in investment deals from Germany, Malacañang said on Wednesday, March 13.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been in Berlin since Monday, March 11, for a working visit.

“The investment deals were made during the Philippine-Germany business forum in Berlin organized by the Department of Trade and Industry on Tuesday,” a press release from the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) read.

The PCO said there were eight agreements inked – three letters of intent (LOI), two memoranda of agreement (MOA), and three memoranda of understanding (MOU).

These agreements, in PCO’s words, are the following:

• LOI to develop a partner hospital to become a training center to support the training needs of other lower tier hospitals
• LOI for the development of an Innovation Think Tank (ITT) hub and “spoke model” to address the strategic target of an inclusive innovation ecosystem in the Philippines
• LOI for the strategic and digital partnership in healthcare with the Department of Health with the goal of revolutionizing healthcare in the Philippines
• MOA between the Philippine government and a German company through a public-private partnership to rehabilitate, reclaim, and re-cultivate degraded farm lands in the Philippines
• MOA to expand potential collaborations in mobility solutions, software services, manufacturing, factory automation, logistics services, energy, security, and safety systems for buildings, consumer appliances, and healthcare
• MOU to invest in a fully integrated solar cell manufacturing facility
• MOU to invest in a manufacturing facility that will modify automobiles into high-end 1 of 1 version and armor-protected cars, as well as manufacture military grade armored personnel carriers for the Asian market
• MOU to put up data centers that will host a digital insurance platform that will serve the Philippines and Southeast Asian region as the group’s main expansion outside of the European Union

Marcos is the first Philippine president in 10 years, or since the administration of Benigno Aquino III, to visit Germany.

The President made an effort to point that out, telling an audience during the Philippine-German business forum that it is the first time in a decade that a Philippine leader addressed the business community in Berlin.

In his earlier meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the two “discussed ways to enhance trade and investment.”

“The Philippines would like to cooperate in the areas of manufacturing, construction and infrastructure, IT-BPM, innovation and startups, as well as renewable energy and minerals processing,” Marcos said.

The two countries also signed agreements to strengthen cooperation on maritime issues and the upskilling of Filipino skilled workers.

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Germany was the Philippines’ 11th top trading partner in 2023, and the leading source of foreign-approved investments, amounting to $7 billion, according to a PCO press release.

Marcos has another stopover in Prague for a state visit to the Czech Republic before flying home to the Philippines on Friday, March 15.

The Central Europe trip is the fifth time he left the country in 2024, further cementing his reputation as a jet-setting president.

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The current administration has defended Marcos’ constant travels and justified them through the investment deals secured from the visits.

In a 2023 piece, former socioeconomic planning chief Winnie Monsod questioned whether the trips were really worth it, saying that based on her experience, foreign direct investments that were pledged during a president’s trip “were either already in the making or already a done deal, and just brought together to coincide with the visits.”

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[ANALYSIS] Are the foreign trips really worth it?

– Rappler.com