Chairman Mel V. Velarde at the Indo-Pacific Business Forum
Tokyo, Japan
January 12, 2023

At the 5th Annual Indo-Pacific Business Forum in Tokyo, Japan, on January 12, 2023, U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) Director Enoh T. Ebong and NOW Telecom Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mel Velasco Velarde signed a Letter of Intent to memorialize the Parties’ intent to work together in support of NOW Telecom’s deployment of a nationwide stand-alone 5G mobile and fixed wireless network in the Philippines. Present during the signing were Gaurav Korde, Regional Partner, Bell Labs Consulting APJ; Guillaume Mascot, Head of Government Affairs APJ Nokia; Verinda Fike, USTDA Regional Director, Indo-Pacific; Atty. Ferdinand Michael Marcos Manotoc, NOW Legal Counsel and Managing Partner of Marcos Law; Francis Xavier L. Manglapus, NOW Corp Vice-Chairman; Engr. Rene L. Rosales, NOW Telecom President and COO; and Kristian Noel A. Pura, NOW Telecom Director.

Chairman Velarde presented USTDA Director Ebong a commemorative stamp of the Murillo Velarde 1734 Map and “The South China Sea Dispute: Philippine Sovereign Rights and Jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” a book by Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio.

During the Indo-Pacific Business Forum, Chairman Velarde and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Chairman of the Board Tadashi Maeda discussed JBIC’s cooperation in the Philippine telecommunications sector.