MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has received the confirmation for an PhP11-billion investment pledge from Singapore-based multinational technology company, Dyson, that eyes to invest in the Philippines in the next two years.

In his meeting with Dyson officials on September 16, Saturday, President Marcos said that he was delighted to hear about the interest of Dyson Limited to invest in the Philippines as he emphasized that they made the right decision in choosing the country for their investments.

“So, well, let’s see with all those that we have, that we can do,” President Marcos told Dyson officials.

For their part, Dyson officials told President Marcos that they are “very proud” to be in the Philippines already as they emphasized that they have a significant number of operations in the country.

“Three, four months ago, we made a decision that we want to further our investment to the Philippines with expanding our presence there and today we only have a factory producing our own electrical motors,” Dyson’s Chief Executive Officer Ronald Krueger told President Marcos.

“So we have announced a significant investment equivalent of PhP11-billion into the new factory, the new R&D center … and we want to expand also in terms of staff, software, and others that we require over the next two years,” Krueger added.

Aside from Krueger, other Dyson officials that had a meeting with the President are Lou-ann Fitsimons and Derek Ng.

The President was accompanied by Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil; Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual and Ambassador Medardo Antonio G. Macaraig.

Dyson also emphasized that their investment would generate around 1,250 employees and would move more contract manufacturing into the Philippines by the middle of 2022, or the “second or third quarter” of the year.

Responding to Dyson, President Marcos said that “this will be very interesting” for the Philippines and the Filipino people as he emphasized that their investment would mean hiring more software engineers and other engineering graduates.

House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, who1 accompanied President Marcos on his official visit to Singapore, said that the chief executive welcomes and supports the investment pledge of Dyson.

Romualdez said that they joined President Marcos on his trip to Singapore as a sign of their commitment to his efforts to review the current body of legislation, particularly on laws that govern the treatment and the appreciation of foreign investments into the country. (PND)