Marcos set to find other ways to meet Elon Musk after missed opportunity in APEC sidelines

President Marcos said he would find other ways to meet American tech leader Elon Musk after their meeting did not push through due to the latter supposedly getting sick.

Marcos said this as he ended his trip to San Francisco for the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting on Friday, Nov. 17 (Manila time).

In an interview with reporters, the President described the development as a “missed opportunity” as he was looking forward to meeting the former Tesla chairman and now owner of X (formerly Twitter).

“He fell ill. He was supposed to come here to San Francisco. Marami siyang ka-meeting dapat dito pero binalitaan kami nagkasakit nga (He was supposed to meet with a lot of people but we were informed that he got sick),” he said.

“Kaya wala muna (So, it didn’t push through), which is a missed opportunity. I was really looking forward to it. But we’ll find ways again to [meet him],” he added.

According to Marcos, he had much to discuss with Musk, a tech industry leader who founded and serves as the chairman, CEO, and CTO of American spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX.

“[We] have much to discuss with him in terms of the technologies that we would like for Tesla, for example, to bring to the Philippines, specifically battery technology, even the manufacture of fully electric vehicles. All of these things that we are hoping to be part of in the future,” he said.

“Well, the leader in the industry is Elon Musk, and so that’s why we wanted to see him. We still want to see him, and so we will find an opportunity to do that as soon as we can,” he added.

Other missed meetings

Aside from his meeting with Musk, President Marcos’ meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also did not push through.

“Hindi na natuloy (It didn’t push through) because what happened was the session yesterday ran very late. I think we came out of there one hour behind schedule,” he said.

Marcos’ last meeting with Trudeau was during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, in September.

The President, however, had a bilateral meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris wherein they discussed the situation in the South China Sea, and one with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, who invited him to Peru for the 31st APEC meeting as well as to mark the 50th year of the bilateral ties between the Philippines and Peru.

President Marcos likewise had a pull-aside meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping wherein they talked about the recent tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

He likewise met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to discuss how to use the platform to help small businesses boost their sales.