President Aquino to meet with potential investors in California

President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, accompanied by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Hernando Iriberri, troops the line during the send-off ceremonies at the Departure Area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal II in Pasay City on Monday (February 15, 2016) for his participation to the ASEAN-US Summit and Working Visit to Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. (Photo by Exequiel Supera/Malacañang Photo Bureau)

RANCHO MIRAGE, California – President Benigno S. Aquino III will meet with top executives of three big Los Angeles-based companies during his working visit to the city on Feb. 16.

President Aquino is set to embark on a working visit to Los Angeles on Feb. 16 to 17 following his participation in the special summit organized by US President Barack Obama with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at Sunnylands here.

While in Los Angeles, the President will have a series of business meetings with officials of Walt Disney International, Western Digital Corp., and AECOM’s Enterprise Growth Solutions.

President Aquino will meet first with Andy Bird, chairman of Walt Disney International, to discuss “the investment policies and the climate in the creative sector, particularly game development and animation”.

“I think the President will also welcome an exchange of ideas how the Philippine government can continue to support and develop the industry,” Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia, Jr. said in an interview with Radio-Television Malacañang.

The President will then meet with Stephen Milligan, chief executive officer of Western Digital Corporation.

Ambassador Cuisia said that during their meeting, President Aquino and Milligan will discuss how Western Digital Corporation can expand its operations in the Philippines.

Western Digital is a data storage solutions company. It has a plant in Laguna Technopark with more than 10,000 employees.

“They are quite a large employer in the Philippines. The President will also explore with them the possibility of their setting up shared services in the Philippines,” he said.

President Aquino will also be meeting with Michael Donnelly, Group President of AECOM’s Enterprise Growth Solutions.

“I think the President intends to find out from Mr. Donnelly how the government can help them in expanding the hiring and training of Filipino engineers because they are interested to expand their operations by partnering with private sector clients with respect to infrastructure development,” Cuisia said.

On February 17, President Aquino will meet with members of the Filipino-American community and speak about the Philippines’ achievements under his watch.