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On the first day of his State Visit to Malaysia, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. personally expresses the Philippines’ heartfelt gratitude to overseas Filipinos for their contributions and continued support as he holds a community gathering with his countrymen in Kuala Lumpur on July 25, 2023. In an interview with RTVM, Ambassador Charles Jose of the Embassy of the Philippines in Malaysia said that there are around 900,000 Filipinos living and working in the country, whose hard work and contributions are largely recognized and respected in Malaysian society. Most of them are employed as household service workers while the others are professional, semi-skilled and involved in the agriculture, services and hospitality sectors. “They contribute a lot to the Malaysian economy especially our workers in doing work in plantation, in agricultural sector because these industries are very important to the Malaysian economy and these are the ones that are heavily dependent on foreign workers,” said Ambassador Jose. “Generally speaking, our OFWs [overseas Filipino workers], they contribute about 10% to our GDP [Gross Domestic Product], which is one of the main drivers of the Philippine economy. And si President Bongbong Marcos himself said, our OFWs, their remittances, they fuel our engine of progress,” he continued. Ambassador Jose stated that this visit of President Marcos Jr. is of great significance to the Filipinos in Malaysia, having won over 78% of overseas votes from this country in the May 2022 national elections.
