The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expressed optimism Saturday that it could hit its P1-trillion investment target this year with the government’s aggressive promotional strategy and with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. being a very good salesman.
Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said in a media forum in Quezon City that the DTI set this year’s investment target for the Board of Investments (BOI) at P1 trillion upped from last year’s P729 billion.
In 2021, BOI’s investments reached P655 billion, according to Undersecretary Rodolfo.
The increase in investments only shows that the government’s promotional visits are working, with investors from Southeast Asian countries, US, Belgium and China showing interest in putting their money in the Philippines.
“We have been monitoring all of the news na lumalabas ho,” Rodolfo said, noting those visits really created a pipeline of strong interest from investors.
“Sabi noong isa nating malaking negosyante that the Japanese investors are all the more really encouraged to invest in the Philippines because they really see the hard work that the President has put into promoting the Philippines. So iyon ho, that is a good news for everyone,” the DTI official explained.
Companies that actually registered at the BOI for the first month of this year already reached P414 billion, the DTI undersecretary said.
It means the government investment body already hit more than 40 percent of the P1 trillion target, Rodolfo said, adding if BOI’s registered investment is compared with last year’s record, it has already reached close to 60 percent.
“And we really credit a big part of that to the strong efforts of the President to promote the Philippines,” Rodolfo said, noting, with the President’s Japan visit, the DTI is tracking investment pledges of about $10 billion or around P500 billion to P550 billion.
Once those companies see very strong Philippine opportunities, they will register with the BOI, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Clark Development Corp. (CDC,) and the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB).
Those companies have shown strong interest in export manufacturing, according to Rodolfo. (PND)
