Amid the undying fuzz of the P500 Noche Buena budget, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Cristina Roque said she will leave the country, not to evade the controversy, but to have a meeting with possible investors in the retail and restaurant industry—proving that work and life must go on for her.

“I am leaving for Korea and will have a meeting with possible investors. This is from the 17^th to the 19^th of December. We hope to get this, especially the retail one. Because for retail, we can easily entice them. The jobs that they will provide are important for our workforce,” she said in a chance interview during the 30th Anniversary and Investors’ Recognition Night of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on Monday night.

She said she will be meeting four companies in Seoul that are new players to add to the declining numbers of foreign direct investors.

“I cannot provide more details as we don’t want to preempt the negotiations,” she said.

The DTI’s Board of Investment remains reeling in the low P816.81 billion approved investments from January to November 2025, a 48.4 percent decline against the P1.58 trillion investment approvals made in the same period last year.

The BOI also said that it approved P26.43 billion worth of investments following a recent management committee meeting this month, adding to the P816.81 billion approved investments.

Even if lagging, Roque stressed that the Trade Department is currently awaiting big-ticket projects being assessed by the BOI, worth over P1 Trillion that gained Green Lane status for its immediate approval and implementation, hopefully towards the end of this year.

On the other hand, PEZA, another DTI-attached investment promotion agency, said it is gearing to reach or breach its P250 billion target for this year, according to its director general, Tereso Panga.