Ms. Pritzker, together with a delegation of American business executives, visited Manila as part of a trip to aim at deepening economic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“The United States and our companies have a long-term stake in ASEAN’s economic prosperity,” she said in a speech at a forum organized by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Management Association of the Philippines and the Makati Business Club.

“Our businesses want to be part of the solution, and that is why we are here in conjunction with a number of America’s top business leaders. They are eager to make the investments in areas such as information technology, infrastructure, clean energy, telecommunications, financial services, healthcare, education, and more.”

The Philippines was the second stop of Ms. Pritzker’s Asia trip, which began on Monday in Vietnam. The trip will be capped in Burma, where she will reaffirm the Washington’s support for reforms taking place there.

Ms. Pritzker’s visit was announced by US President Barack Obama during his trip to Manila last April, where he focused on strengthening the security alliance between the two countries with the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

She called on President Benigno S. C. Aquino III and the Palace said discussions yesterday focused on “potential areas of US investment”.

“Some of the areas where they are looking … include car manufacturing, energy, infrastructure in Mindanao, infrastructure on mass transit, and also tourism,” Presidential Spokesman Edwin S. Lacierda said.

Interest in Mindanao, Mr. Lacierda said, has been spurred by the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The business delegation accompanying her included US-ASEAN Business Council Chairman Evan Greenberg and US-ASEAN Business Council President Alex Feldman.

Chief executives in the party included Keith Williams of Underwriters Laboratories, Andres Gluski of AES Corporation, Bill Ford of General Atlantic, Daniel Glasier of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. Also present were John Negroponte, vice-chairman of McLarty Associates and a former US ambassador to the Philippines and Washington’s current envoy, Ambassador Philip Goldberg.

Among the Philippine officials at the meeting in Malacañang were Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. and Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima.

At the forum organized by business chambers, meanwhile, Ms. Pritzker urged the Philippines to join the planned Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), saying the trade deal would “help provide greater regulatory coherence for all the countries involved, protect intellectual property, and establish rules to better link companies with production and distribution networks across the Asia-Pacific region.”

“[T]he successful completion of the TPP is a central economic priority of the Obama Administration because opening markets across the Asia-Pacific region will help promote growth and jobs here and in the United States,” she said.

The TPP, led by the US, is currently being negotiated between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Ms. Pritzker also met with Filipino small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) yesterday, who she said were crucial to the country’s development.

“Support for entrepreneurship is very important … because a significant part of the economic world comes from new businesses,” she said.

US firms were said to be interested in partnering with Filipino SMEs, rather than big corporations, to also spur economic activity at the grassroots level. — with a report from Imee Charlee C. Delavin

Source: http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=TopStory&title=US-seeks-closer-business-ties&id=88607