The government has approved P 1.4 trillion worth of investments since the start of the Marcos administration last year, Secretary Alfredo Pascual of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Tuesday.
Pascual, in his report presented at the DTI-led sectoral meeting in Malacanang with President Marcos Jr. on Tuesday, attributed the increase to the government’s continued campaign to promote the country as an attractive investment destination.
“Since the beginning of the Marcos Jr. administration, we have seen a substantial increase in approved foreign investments,” Pascual said, citing significant increases in foreign investment approvals by the Board of Investments (BOI) and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).
Pascual said approvals of these agencies in the first half of 2022 reached $1.1 billion which rose to $3.3 billion in the second half of the same year.
He said this further ballooned to $8.4 billion in the first half of 2023.
Pascual expressed optimism about the FDI inflows as the “BOI and PEZA are building up a good pipeline of approved foreign-invested projects that will eventually be implemented as actual investments.”
“The future looks promising, Mr. President, given the rising trend in foreign investment approvals by the DTI’s investment promotion agencies — BOI and PEZA. In addition, we continue our efforts to promote the Philippines as an attractive investment destination,” he added.
Meanwhile, the BOI yesterday said Chinese firms led by Nanjing Donglei Automobile Meter Co. from the province of Jiangsu expressed commitment to explore investments in renewable energy, automotive, electric vehicle battery manufacturing and green metals, and electronics manufacturing industries.
Officials of BOI, the Chinese firms and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Ministry of Trade and Investment Promotion Department last September 22 in Makati City where they committed to improve bilateral trade.
