Adviser: Greater Manila Bay Area, Luzon Economic Corridor can co-exist

MANILA: Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick Go sees the development of the Greater Manila Bay Area (GMBA) as a complementary initiative to the Luzon Economic Corridor, a product of the trilateral summit of the Philippines, United States and Japan. Go said in a recent chance interview that the Philippine government welcomes all legitimate projects that would bring in investments and jobs. On Aug. 21, Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian proposed to the Filipino-Chinese business sector the development of GMBA, which will link Cavite and Bataan, with Manila and Bulacan in between. The GMBA will be patterned after the Greater Bay Area in China that covers Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macau. 'I think it's an idea. It's something that can be looked on a little deeper,' Go said on the sidelines of the National Retailers Conference and Expo 2024 in Pasay City on Aug. 30. 'In our role of welcoming investors into our country, we welcome investments or investor s from anywhere in the world. As long as they're in legitimate businesses, they put in real capital, provide jobs to Filipinos, and help our economy turn and run, we will be able to do that. We welcome all such investments,' he added. Go is also the co-chair of the Steering Committee of the Luzon Economic Corridor, along with US Senior Advisor to the President for Energy and Investment Amos Hochstein and Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director-General for International Cooperation Bureau Ishizuki Hideo. The Luzon Economic Corridor's flagship project is the cargo railway connecting Subic and Batangas, or the Subic-Clark-Manila-Batangas cargo railway that aims to improve logistics in Luzon. Source: Philippines News Agency