The pace of foreign and local investments registering in the country has been sluggish, prompting the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), along with its attached investment promotion agencies, to gear up and meet soon to decide whether to recalibrate or maintain its P1.7-trillion investment targets this year.

Based on Board of Investment (BoI) records, approved investments between January to May 2025 came to only P329,522.5 billion. Of the total, foreign investments total P61,518.47 billion and the rest, or P268,004 billion, are domestic investments.

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported that 66 new and expansion projects worth P58.947 billion were approved in the first quarter of the year, representing a 294.26 percent increase from the P14.951 billion investments approved in the first quarter of 2024.

“We are still going to meet regarding that (recalibration),” said Trade Secretary Cristina Roque.

Push for more investments

“But we will push for more investments to come in, using the Road Show for CREATE MORE, which is one of our focuses. The meeting will be held to review and to (really) study how we can go higher,” she told reporters at the sidelines of the ceremonial signing of the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) for Investments Facilitation Network (INFA-Net) at the Makati Diamond Residences, Makati City on Monday.

“But we are hoping to at least secure the P1.9 trillion approved investments we made last year. We just have to make sure that we can also hit that, so we will meet this week or next week, along with the heads of the IPAs (investment promotion agencies),” Roque added.

A challenge

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs, Secretary Frederick Go, stressed that hitting or surpassing the P1.9 trillion investments made last year, which is 30 percent versus the investments reaped in 2023, remains a challenge.

“That number is the new statistic that we have to beat, and it’s a very challenging number. So, we have to work doubly hard, which is why programs like the INFA-Net are important to us,” Go said in a chance interview.

Asked what the chances are for the government to meet or surpass its investment targets this year, Secretary Go said he doesn’t know.

“Of course, every year we try to beat our record. But with every performance, it becomes more difficult. It’s a very different situation now because of the US tariffs. But right now, there’s no discussion of such a (second round) on the table,” Go said.

Trump’s tariffs a big factor

Meanwhile, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation’s chief economist, Michael Ricafort, also sees that the slow entry of investments is due to the 17 percent tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump on the Philippines and country-members in the ASEAN region, among other nations.

“The wait-and-see stance by some exporters and investors on their production, capacity, and inventories to Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on 2 April, these higher import tariffs/reciprocal tariffs could slow demand for exports to the US, slow down investments (new and expansion projects), global trade, employment, and overall world GDP (gross domestic product), and economic/GDP growth that could, in turn, indirectly slow down local economic/GDP growth,” Ricafort told the DAILY TRIBUNE in a Viber message.

Furthermore, he said the protectionist policies of Trump also encourage US and global investors to invest in the US amid higher US import tariffs, thereby reducing investment and foreign direct investments in other countries.

INFA-Net

On Monday, 38 government agencies signed JMC institutionalizing the INFA-Net designed to address investors’ concerns on ease of doing business in the country.

During the JMC signing Secretary Roque said the initiative is aligned with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s vision of streamlining regulatory processes and cutting red tape.

She said the signing of the support to said JMC reflects the agencies’ shared commitment to break down barriers, reduce red tape, and send a strong message to the world that the Philippines is open for business.

The newly signed JMC aims to bolster inter-agency coordination, step up investor facilitation, and streamline regulatory processes to boost local and foreign investments in the country.