ZURICH — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has arrived in Switzerland for a 4-day working visit to attend the World Economic Forum.

Marcos arrived in Zurich at 4:28 p.m. Sunday afternoon (11:28 p.m. in Manila) with First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and their son and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos.

In his departure speech, the President said the World Economic Forum is an opportunity to promote the Philippines as a “leader and driver of growth in the Asia-Pacific region” as the country emerges from the COVID pandemic.

He is also expected to outline his administration’s economic plans for the Philippines, including efforts to build more infrastructure to support growth, and ensure food and energy security for the country.

The President said he was looking forward to a more candid exchange during the WEF, where he could "expand and explore" more of the country’s economic outlook, as well as his administration’s plans, which includes include a proposed sovereign wealth fund.

• Sovereign wealth fund planong ibida ni Marcos sa pagbisita sa Switzerland

"Pare-pareho naman ang ginagawa natin dito sa mga trips, we talk about the Philippines, what the situation is as an investment destination and now as added to that, meron na tayong pwedeng pag-usapan na sovereign wealth fund," Marcos Jr. earlier said.

"Sasabihin ko, exactly what happening, that we are forming a sovereign wealth fund for big investments in the basic areas such as agri, energy, digitalization, climate change. But the point being, is that now there is a wealth fund," he added.

(We do the same thing in these trips, we talk about the Philippines... and now as added to that, we have a sovereign wealth fund we can talk about.)

Marcos said he expected a lot of work would also be done at the sidelines of the forum, where he is also scheduled to meet with business leaders.

“Sometimes, the best deals are done outside. In fact many, if not most, are done informally. Magkita ang dalawa, ‘mag-usap nga tayo…’ tawag sa diplomatic phraseology, they call it pull-away," the President said.

“We’ll have a lot of those, because there are certain businessmen, who our own business group want to engage. So siguro papatulong sila sa atin maybe the secretary, or me myself, papatulong sila sa atin, samahan mo ako, kausapin natin,” he continued.

(The 2 sides will meet, agree to talk; in diplomatic phraseology, they call that pull-away... Maybe certain businessmen would ask us to go with them, talk to them.)

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