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$19 billion worth of investments secured during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s foreign trips have been actualized or have begun implementation as of June 2024
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These investments cover 65 projects, an increase from the 46 projects reported in December 2023, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said
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Out of these, 12 projects are already operational, 21 have registered with the Board of Investments and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and 32 are in the process of registering with investment promotion agencies
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported that $19 billion worth of investments secured during President Marcos’ foreign trips have been actualized or have begun implementation as of June 2024.
These investments cover 65 projects, an increase from the 46 projects reported in December 2023, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual announced in a briefing in Makati City on June 24.
Out of these, 12 projects are already operational and worth $328 million, 21 have registered with the Board of Investments and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and 32 are in the process of registering with DTI’s investment promotion agencies (IPAs).
Investments in the Stage 5 category amount to $1.6 billion, covering 21 projects that have registered with IPAs and will begin operations soon. Additionally, 32 projects, valued at $17 billion, are in the Stage 4 category, with their registration still in progress with the IPAs.
The $19 billion in actualized investments represent 31% of the $61.3 billion pledged during the President’s foreign trips, encompassing 201 projects. Including public-private partnership (PPP) projects, total investments at different stages stood at $76.6 billion as of June, covering 231 projects, up from $72.2 billion and 148 projects in December 2023, according to Trade undersecretary Jose Edgardo Sunico.
In a related development, Trade undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo expressed confidence that the Board of Investments (BOI) will meet its 2024 investment approvals target of P1.5 trillion.
BOI approved P27.41 billion worth of investment pledges in May, 23% lower than the P35.7 billion approved in May 2023. However, approved investment pledges from January to May reached P640.22 billion, a 14% year-on-year increase, marking the “highest five-month approval in the BOI’s 57-year history.”
Last year, the agency approved P1.26 trillion in investments, short of its P1.5 trillion target.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, foreign direct investment inflow jumped by 23.1% to $686 million in March from $557 million in the same month last year. This brought the first quarter FDI inflow to $2.97 billion, 42.1% higher than the $2.09 billion recorded in the comparable period a year ago.
