The US Embassy in Manila welcomed Eric Postel, a top official from the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) on November 5 and will assist him in launching several new development projects in cooperation with Philippine partners. Postel is the assistant administrator for USAid’s Bureau of Economic Growth, Education and Environment.

During his visit this week, Postel will meet with high-level Philippine government officials, business chambers, and other stakeholders to discuss the US-Philippines Partnership for Growth (PFG) initiative, which was launched in November 2011 by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario. The PFG provides a new framework for deepening and strengthening bilateral engagement to promote broad based and inclusive economic growth. The program is intended to mobilize the resources of both countries to address the most serious constraints to economic growth in the Philippines.

Postel will launch a new partnership between USAid and the City of Valenzuela that will implement the use of mobile money in the city’s financial transactions under the Scaling Innovations in Mobile Money Project. The project will help cut administrative costs, increase transparency, reduce potential leakage and make transacting with government easier for citizens. These objectives also support USAid Forward, an initiative which focuses on innovation and the application of technology to achieve high-impact development.

Along with Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Postel will also participate in the launch of the USAid-supported Judicial Strengthening for Court Effectiveness Project that seeks to improve the efficiency of Philippine courts. This project aims to enhance the ability of justice institutions to resolve court cases and commercial disputes and to strengthen the integrity of the justice sector.

Accompanying Assistant Administrator Postel is the managing director of the Policy Analysis Office for the Office of US Foreign Assistance Resources at the US Department of State, Paula Reed Lynch.

The American people, through the United States Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for over 50 years. In the Philippines, USAid works in partnership with the Philippine government in creating a more stable, prosperous and well-governed country through programs that promote broad-based and inclusive economic growth, increase peace and stability in Mindanao and reduce risks from natural disasters.

For more information about USAid’s programs in the Philippines, visit http://philippines.usaid.gov or contact USAiD/Philippines Development Outreach and Communications via e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .