Balisacan: Phl still welcome Chinese investments, tourists

The Philippines remains open to Chinese investments and tourists despite the recent incident at the disputed Ayungin Shoal that left Filipino sailors injured, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said on Wednesday.

During the East-West Center’s International Media Conference in Pasay City, Balisacan emphasized the interconnectedness of regional economies and the importance of global supply chains despite the tensions.

“We have no intention of restricting investments or tourists from China. Everyone is welcome to come to the country as investors, as tourists,” Balisacan said.

He noted that China’s official development assistance (ODA) to the Philippines has been “very small,” making up only about five percent of all the aid the country receives.

This is because China itself has been receiving aid from a variety of sources, such as other countries and international organizations.

Balisacan acknowledged the impact of geopolitical tensions on trade, although he cautioned against directly attributing the recent decline in foreign direct investments (FDI) solely to this factor.

“Nobody is spared from supply chain disruptions,” Balisacan said, citing both natural disasters and geopolitical tensions as potential causes.

Balisacan said the Philippines has been affected in one way or another, directly or indirectly, by the broader global and regional trends of declining FDI, making it difficult to isolate the specific influence of geopolitical issues.

“I don’t think that we can directly attribute it to that (geopolitical tensions) because overall in the world, global and Asia Pacific, FDI has been falling and so to what extent you can attribute it to geopolitical issues is not clear,” he said.

“It could be one of those (factors) directly, indirectly, but it’s hard to attribute that in the absence of more information,” he added.