The Department of Trade and Insustry (DTI) said some P22 billion worth of projects sealed during the foreign visits of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. this year are already operational.
DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said at the recent Bagong Pilipinas briefing the projects are part of the P4.019-trillion investment pledges bagged by the Chief Executive during his official business trips. “PHP22 billion are already operating as we speak now, which means these facilities that were promised (by investors) to our President are already running.”
President Marcos has visited nine countries this year — China, Switzerland, Japan, United States, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. He went to Japan, US, and Indonesia twice. Rodolfo the 148 projects with committments from foreign investors are “transformative types.”
“What we want under the leadership of President Marcos Jr. is really to transform the Philippine economy, Philippine industries. You can see what the President really advocates during his foreign travels, in his investment missions are industries that will transform the Philippines, in particular renewable energy projects and digitalization projects,” he pointed out.
Rodolfo said many of the investments in the pipeline are expected to enter the country in 2024 and can be registered with the DTI-attached investment promotion agencies Board of Investments and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
Earlier, the government reported that the investment commitments from the foreign trips of the Chief Executive will likely generate some 150,000 to 200,000 jobs which are expected to multiply in the following years.
“These 150,000 jobs can still increase to 500,000 jobs within the next three to four years,” he pointed out, adding that for the government to continue attracting foreign investors, it must focus on improving the ease of doing business in the country.