Some 400 state ministers, policymakers, and prominent world figures, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, along with at least 600 heads of corporations, select members of the academe, and representatives of non-government organizations, will be trailed by an army of print and broadcast journalists as they troop to the prestigious World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland in the coming days.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who was personally invited by WEF founder and Executive Chairman, German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab, when they met at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia in November last year, will be in attendance — the only head of state from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — at the prestigious forum taking place at the Alpine ski resort from January 16 to 20.
Marcos has declared that he will “soft launch,” that is, introduce to the elite assemblage that will be addressing some of the most pressing concerns of a troubled world, what may be regarded as his pet formula for raising urgently-needed foreign investments for the Philippines.
If the President can get through to the participants of the forum, then the four days of chilly Davos weather would be worth it. This presents the most opportune time for him to call the attention of some of the wealthiest, most influential individuals on the planet to take a look at his Maharlika Wealth Fund.
The potential to generate revenue never fails to attract private business and if crafted well, the fund could very well be an excellent instrument to obtain exactly what it has been intended for — the creation of wealth, both for investors and the country.
That the President has declared he will introduce the Maharlika Wealth Fund in Davos and interest the world’s wealthy to invest in it and the country should be a signal urgent enough for the Senate to speed up its work on the proposed measure and for the senators to get behind him posthaste.
He is going out there to stake his credibility and reputation by asking the world to invest in the Filipinos. The least anyone with a modicum of concern for the country can do is to make sure that he — and we — don’t fail and fall flat on our collective faces before the whole world.