The Philippines is positioning itself as a regional logistics hub, given its strategic geographic location in Asia and with ongoing efforts to enhance connectivity and attract investments, according to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
In an interview with Russia Today during his working visit to Kazan, Russia, Marcos noted that Manila sits at the center of major Asian capitals, making it an ideal transshipment and distribution point for regional trade.
“It’s a natural for the Philippines to be that hub. Our geographical location puts us literally in the center. Manila is four hours or less flight away from every single major Asian capital,” Marcos said.
“And immediately, that gives us an advantage. And in fact, that is part of our economic planning, to take advantage of that geographical location,” he added.
Marcos said the Philippine government is aligning economic politics to maximize this advantage, including reforms in investment incentives, taxation, and regulatory frameworks to improve the country’s attractiveness to foreign investors.
“We’ve changed some of our tax structures. We’ve encouraged certain aspects of that investment atmosphere. And we have tried to make the Philippines a more attractive investment destination,” he said.
He said these efforts are already yielding results, with “a great deal of interest” from non-traditional partners, including emerging engagements with countries like Rusia, along with long-standing trading partners such as the United States, Japan and Europe.
He stressed that positioning the Philippines as a logistics hub could support broader regional supply chain development within ASEAN and the wider Indo-Pacific.
“It is one of the plans that we have for our own country. And we try to incorporate it into the plans of ASEAN as we try to develop those supply chains, we try to develop an interdependency between member states, not only within ASEAN, but of course now we talk about Asia and the Indo-Pacific region,” Marcos said. (PNA)