MANILA - President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos on Tuesday said he is eyeing to build state-run malls in the Philippines to promote micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and local products.

Marcos said he thought of the idea after Indonesian President Joko Widodo gave him a tour in a mall run by the Indonesian government. He did not mention the name of the said mall.

"Last night, suddenly he invited us to see - to go to a mall...'Yun pala, 'yung mall na pinakita sa amin, gobyerno ang may-ari at saka ang produktong pinagbibili doon sa loob ng mall, lahat local, lahat MSMEs, lahat maliliit (I found out that the mall shown to us is owned by government and the products being sold inside the mall are all local, all MSMEs, all small businesses)," he told reporters in a press briefing in Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta just before flying to Singapore.

He said he wanted to replicate the state-owned mall to complement the Philippines' One Town, One Product (OTOP) program for MSMEs which aims to drive inclusive local economic growth.

"Sabi ko, baka pwede natin gawin sa Pilipinas (I said, perhaps we can do that in the Philippines)...We had a very good exchange of ideas. Sabi ko naman sa Pilipinas, ganito ginagawa namin (I told them that here in the Philippines, this is how we do it). I was describing 'yung OTOP, 'yung One Town, One Product. Sabi ko, pero maliliit. So kailangan turuan (I said, but it is small. We need to teach them)," he added.

Marcos said Widodo welcomed his proposal as the two countries had many parallels in its experience with MSMEs.

"Nag-agree na naman kami. Sabi niya, oo, kailangan natin turuan 'yung packaging, 'yung market, kung ano 'yung hinahanap sa merkado (We both agreed. He said, yes, we need to teach them packaging, the market, what the market is looking for), how do you business plan, 'yung mga ganung klaseng bagay (those types of things)," he said.

There are a total of 957,620 business enterprises operating in the country. Of these, 952,969 (99.51 percent) are MSMEs and 4,651 (0.49 percent) are large enterprises, according to data from the Department of Trade and Industry.

Enthusiastic investors

Meanwhile, Marcos said Indonesian investors are "very enthusiastic" about starting businesses in the Philippines.

"All of them are very enthusiastic. Sabi nila hindi (They said)- we haven't been able to come into the Philippines properly, because nung pinaplano nila, nag-pandemic, kung ano na nangyari (when they were already planning to, the pandemic happened and other happenings)," he said.

He said they have also committed to "expanding" their involvement in investments in the country.

"They all committed naman to... Many of them are already actually involved in the Philippines. So sabi nila palalakihin nila 'yung kanilang involvement. Gusto nila mag-expand (they said they will increase their involvement. They want to expand)," he added.

Marcos said discussions concerning public-private partnerships (PPPs) agreements were the "most extensive."

"I think the most extensive subject matter was in fact, PPP. Because nandito talaga tayo para i-encourage 'yung (Because we are really here to encourage) PPPs with the Philippine government. But not only the Philippine government. Bukod sa PPP, pinag-usapan namin 'yung mga joint venture ng mga negosyante dito. Pupunta sila sa Pilipinas, ang negosyanteng Pilipino pupunta rito sa Indonesia para makapag-joint venture (Aside from PPP, we also discussed investors' joint venture here. They will visit the Philippines while Filipino investors will go to Indonesia for joint ventures), but also with the government, the PPPs with the government," he said.

Marcos kicked off his "productive" inaugural state visit to Indonesia on Sunday by visiting the Filipino community in Jakarta.

Marcos and his delegation also held a bilateral meeting with Indonesian officials and a roundtable discussion with Indonesian business leaders and investors on Monday. (PNA)