JOBS, investments and many more could be generated in the working visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the United States.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said this in confidence as he cited the hard work of Marcos in boosting the Philippine economy.

“It is heartening to note that the President’s mission to the US has scored significant gains that would not only spur further economic growth but more importantly, result in direct benefits for thousands of Filipino workers in terms of job created,” Romualdez said following a series of engagements of Marcos and his delegation in Washington D.C. with various leading US firms on the third day of his official visit to the US.

“The Philippines has a lot to offer foreign investors, including a young and growing workforce, a strategic location, and a favorable business environment. I am confident that Pres. Marcos, Jr. will continue to attract more foreign investment to our country, which will help us achieve our goal of inclusive growth,” he added.

In one of these meetings, the president and CEO of Carnival Corp. told President Marcos that his group of companies is set to hire some 75,000 Filipino seafarers in the next three to four years.

Padget, who also represents Carnival Cruise Line, Holland American Airlines and Seaborn, praised Filipino workers for their hospitality and competitiveness in the global workforce.

Marcos also met with officials of business process outsourcing (BPO) firm Atento, which has decided to set up its first call center in the Philippines at the Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao district of Iloilo City.

The President thanked Atento President Fili Ledezma Soto and Chief Delivery Officer Josh Ashby and assured them that they made the right decision as “Filipinos speak and write the best English.”

For its first year of operation in the Philippines, Atento is projected to provide employment opportunities for around 554 workers and 665 workers in the second year, bringing in a significant investment of P21.4 million.

Marcos and his delegation also met with American healthcare services provider Optum. The firm is set to invest some P800 million in medical business process outsourcing (BPO) in the Philippines which would provide around 1,500 jobs.

John Prince, president and COO of Optum, said his company is committed to the Philippines and lauded the “strategic partnership that we have for a very long time.”

In a separate engagement, officials of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Moderna had told President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of their move to set up a vaccine-making facility in the country during a meeting with Philippine officials at the Blair House in Washington.

During the meeting, Moderna Chief Commercial Officer Arpa Garay and Senior Vice President and General Manager Patrick Bergstedt said they are set to establish a “Shared Service Facility for Pharmacovigilance” to provide more employment opportunities to health professionals in the country.

Bergstedt said other countries had offered shared services with Moderna but they have chosen the Philippines as the “perfect location” for their third shared service facility in the world.

Moderna was among the pharmaceutical companies that pioneered the production of COVID-19 vaccines, which were distributed to the Philippines at the height of the pandemic.