The Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) investment promotions agencies (IPAs) have registered P2.73 trillion projects since the start of the Marcos administration, some of which represented the realized leads from the presidential visits.
In a press briefing ahead of the State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. today, DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual said the Board of Investments (BOI) chalked up P2.4 trillion investments while the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported P330 billion since July 2022.
Pascual said these numbers demonstrate high investor confidence and a favorable investment climate in the country.
Pascual said the past two years, the BOI approved 658 projects mostly in renewable energy while PEZA registered 432, mostly in manufacturing for a total of 1,090 projects.
Combined, these projects will create 182,000 jobs of which 102,000 are from the BOI projects and 80,000 are from PEZA.
Pascual noted the multiplier effect of these projects, five jobs for every job generated, or a total of about a million jobs.
Pascual also reported the DTI was able to facilitate P3 trillion worth of projects under green lane since February 2023.
There were 102 projects certified for green lane processing, some of which have registered with the BOI.
Pascual said these projects span crucial sectors such as renewable energy, digital infrastructure, food security, and manufacturing.
The DTI earlier reported presidential visits gained 210 investment leads valued at $61 billion. Of that, $19 billion are in advanced stages of implementation.
Pascual said the 20 projects valued at $1.26 billion are in stage 6 or are operational.
Twenty three projects worth $1.6 billion are in stage five or have registered with an IPA.
The bulk, 30 projects worth $16 billion, are on stage four or are in the process of registration with an IPA.
The remaining $42 billion projects are on stages 1 to 3, confirmed investments covered by memorandum of understanding (MOU) or letters of interest (LOI) but are in the planning stage (stage 1) or with signed MOUs and LOIs (stage 2) or projects with clear financials (stage 3).
In a report, the DTI said it has recorded a 342- percent increase in investments in the agribusiness sector, from P6.6 billion in 2022 to P29.15 billion in 2023.
This growth is attributed to the participation of major multinational and local companies, as well as the DTI’s investor outreach campaigns targeting sectors like biotechnology, animal vaccine manufacturing, and high-tech agriculture.