MANILA – Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual on Monday said his agency’s recent three-week European trip for an investment roadshow has fetched prospects amounting to PHP73 billion.
In a briefing with trade reporters in Makati City, Pascual said these positive investment leads came from 16 projects out of 48 that were conveyed to the DTI during their European tour.
Six of these projects are in the renewable energy (RE) sector, six are in the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM), two are in manufacturing, one infrastructure-related project, and one acquisition project. Positive investment leads are those that already have project value, the DTI said.
European companies also eye the Philippines to host the other 32 projects, although do not yet have an investment amount. Pascual said the interest of European firms to do business in the Philippines was heightened by the visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Europe last year.
“We succeeded in promoting the Philippines as ideal investment destination for European companies,” he said. The Philippine team was in Europe from June 18 to July 6 visiting France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.
Pascual said during the Europe Investment Roadshow, European companies have seen the Philippines as a strategic location for their investments in Southeast Asia with its big population and rich natural resources.
He said most of their concerns are related to ease of doing business and the supply chain. The European firms, he added, initially consider the Philippines as a location for their manufacturing projects because of the lower cost of production and labor here, but they are now looking at the country for their research and development (R&D) investments because of the large pool of talents in engineering and professionals in high-technology industries.
Pascual said the DTI has conveyed to the European firms that the government is implementing solutions to their concerns which are important in their decision to expand their businesses in the country.