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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 17) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s trips abroad have begun materializing with approved foreign investment ballooning to ₱427 billion in the nine months to September, a trade official said.
In a Palace briefing on Tuesday, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said the total investment approvals from January to September reached ₱734 billion, up from ₱362 billion a year ago.
Investment commitments from other countries are now at 60% of total approvals, higher than local sources.
However, the central bank in September reported that foreign direct investments or actual fund inflows dropped 20.4% to $3.911 billion (₱221.9 billion) in the first semester due “largely to investor concerns over weak growth prospects amid persistent global uncertainties.”
“I would say really [they] are directly affected by the presidential visits because of the countries where they came from and the sectors which are recipients,” Rodolfo said of the foreign investment commitments approved by the Board of Investments.
The DTI official said about 90% of the ₱427 billion investments were directed to the renewable energy market.
He said they came from European Union members, adding that “we’re counting that really as having been significantly related to the visit of the president.”
Marcos was in Belgium in December 2022 for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union Commemorative Summit.
Rodolfo said the Philippines recorded the highest investment from Germany. Other major investors were Japan and South Korea.
The official said investors seek presence in the following sectors: renewable energy, telecommunications, mineral processing, and high-tech manufacturing.
“Marami pa ‘yang nasa (There are more in the) pipeline, particularly for renewable projects,” he said.
Source: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/business/2023/10/17/marcos-dti-approved-foreign-investments.html