MANILA --The Philippines is continuously reaping the fruit of the recently concluded three-day state visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Malaysia after Air Asia’s Tan Sri Anthony Francis Fernandes pledged to invest $1 billion for the expansion of their operations in the Philippines. 

In a roundtable meeting organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) during the state visit, President Marcos said that he is glad that Air Asia, which is the fourth largest airline in Asia, has a very good prospect for the Philippines.  

“Thank you. We’re all very happy that you have such good – you see such good prospects for the Philippines,” President Marcos said. 

DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual said that Fernandes, CEO of Capital A Berhad, signed a letter of intent, indicating expansion plans for his business in the Philippines, specifically for aviation and aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul operations, Air Asia super app and logistics operations in the country.  

Fernandes said that their company was also hurt when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Philippines, but emphasized that they have to bounce back and restructure their businesses so that they will be able to get back to the pre-pandemic levels. 

“We’re excited about what we can do in the Philippines and really stimulate small, medium enterprises … we are excited. We think we can bring a lot of value to the Philippines on logistics,” Fernandes told President Marcos during the roundtable meeting in Malaysia. 

“So, over the next few years, we think we’ll invest about one billion US dollars into the Philippines. We have about 300 million so far. We wanna grow our aircraft from 23 to 50 including wide-body aircraft … we are just applying for the license now,” he added. 

Fernandes said that it has always been a pleasure doing business in the Philippines as he reiterated his commitment to the administration. (PND)