President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (MARIANNE BERMUDEZ)
MANILA, Philippines — To serve the people better, create more jobs, and achieve economic revitalization, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday said the Philippines needed more technological innovation to compete with other countries.
He said the pandemic sped up technology and digitalization, enabling a “viable way of doing business.”
“We in government have gone a step further than that, not only, is it viable way of doing business, it is the only way that we will be doing business in the years to come, and therefore, we cannot allow the Philippines to get left behind,” Marcos said during the inauguration of the UnionBank Innovation Campus in San Pedro City, Laguna.
The president hoped endless possibilities would be explored and experts’ “bright ideas” turned into jobs and revitalized the economy.
“To sustain growth and promote new advances in this sector, it is my hope that you will explore the limitless possibilities and take advantage of the many bright ideas that our experts have so that we can generate more jobs and secure our nation’s economic revitalization,” he noted.
Marcos said the new UnionBank campus is the kind of innovation, forward-thinking, operations, and actions the country needs, private and public.
“The opening of the UnionBank Innovation Campus shall intensify our collective efforts to bring our banking and ICT industries into the future,” he added.
The president was accompanied by several executives during the inauguration, including Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual, Private Sector Advisory Council chief and UnionBank Board Director Sabin Aboitiz, UnionBank Chairman Erramon Isidro M. Aboitiz, UnionBank President and CEO Edwin Bautista, UnionBank Board Director Samel Aboitiz, and San Pedro Mayor Art Mercado.
The chief executive recently returned to the country after his inaugural state visits in Indonesia and Singapore from September 4 to 7 aimed at strengthening the economic, cultural, defense, and security ties of the two Southeast Asian nations and the Philippines. — Christian Paul Dela Cruz, INQUIRER.net trainee