President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sees great potential in strengthening the economic and trade ties between the State of Hawaii and the Philippines through the Filipino trade mission from Hawaii.

Marcos made the remark during the courtesy call of the members of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Honolulu and Honolulu City Council Trade mission at the Malacañan Palace on Thursday.

“I think there is a great deal of potential there (trade missions). There are so many similarities in terms of what are needed and what needs to be done in terms of the state of Hawaii and the Philippines, and in specific areas of the Philippines,” Marcos said.

The President said his administration has done everything necessary to encourage and boost these exchanges, adding that the “only way forward” in terms of the economy in the Philippines is trade.

“We are presented with so many grand opportunities. It behooves us to do our best to try and explore those–to make those potentialities into realities. There are many, many areas that we can do that,” he said.

He said the Philippines has been trying to make investments and exchanges easier so that they are more transparent, accountable, and cost-effective.

He further noted that the government has tried to “remedy” and “alleviate” supply chain problems encountered worldwide.

“And I think that we have succeeded to an extent. We will continue to work in that direction because again trade is important to us,” Marcos said. “And specifically for Hawaii, trade is particularly important to the Philippines because as you say that connection between the Philippines and Hawaii, and especially northern Philippines and Hawaii is really quite traditional already we can say.”

The President thanked the members of the delegation for exploring the “grand” opportunities and attempting to “make them into reality” for the betterment of both Hawaii and the Philippines. (PNA)