The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said that $14.2 billion out of $72.2 billion foreign investment pledges generated during President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s foreign trips have been actualized.
According to the DTI, the government through various Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) generated $72.2 billion investment commitments in the last 16 months
Of the 148 projects, 46 are already operating or have completed registration with their respective IPAs as of December last year. Some projects have begun implementation through financial and staff resource spending or by other means.
Majority of the projects are in the manufacturing sector at 35 percent with 16 projects, followed by the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) at 22 percent with 10 projects, and renewable energy at 20 percent with nine projects.
The DTI did not provide the specific projects but said that the actualized investments were also made in the retail, transport and logistics, agriculture, and infrastructure sectors.
Notably, investments in infrastructure and offshore RE projects may take up to seven years to implement.
In terms of nationality, investments from Japan yielded the highest number of actualized projects with 21, succeeded by the United States with 13.
Around 102 projects with a cumulative value of $58 billion in investment pledges remain in the pre-implementation and planning phases.
The early actualization of the investments was partly attributed to the “Green Lanes” policy or Executive Order 18 that aims to streamline business applications for strategic investments.
As of Feb. 8, 41 projects have been approved through the Green Lane by the Board of Investments (BOI). Twenty of these projects were commitments made during Marcos' state visits or results of follow-through of pledges.
DTI said that the early implementation of investment pledges helps employ more Filipinos, particularly in the IT-BPM and manufacturing industries.
"Our dedication to turning investment pledges into reality is unwavering. We also leverage each presidential visit as a springboard for building up a pipeline of investment opportunities and making the Philippines an investment destination of choice," said DTI Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual.