Malacañang gives update on PBBM's $14.2-B investment pledges

About $14.2 billion in investment promises from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s trips abroad in the last 16 months had started operating, completed registration, or commenced implementation, Malacañang said on Sunday.

Citing the Department of Trade and Industry, Malacañang said 46 projects worth $14.2 billion, or 20 percent of the total pledges, have been "actualized," which means they are now running or have finished registering with DTI's Investment Promotion Agencies.

On the other hand, around 148 projects worth $72.2 billion had been invested at various stages as of December 2023.

The industries that are getting these investments are infrastructure, agriculture, retail, Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM), renewable energy, manufacturing, and transport and logistics.

Among these sectors, manufacturing has the largest share in terms of the number of projects (16 projects or 35 percent), followed by IT-BPM (10 projects or 22 percent), and renewable energy (nine projects or 20 percent).

"Investment pledges from foreign firms during the presidential visits over the past 16 months are now being actualized substantively and tangibly, boosting the position of the Philippines as a premier investment destination for foreign businesses in Asia," Malacañang said.

"The President visited key countries, introducing to specific investor communities his overall vision and policy direction of opening up the country to more foreign investments, including implementing game-changing legislation under his term," it added.

The US and Japan are the major investment sources based on the amount of completed projects. The US has 13 completed projects and Japan has 21 completed projects.

For the other 102 projects worth $58 billion, foreign investors are still planning and doing work in their own countries to get them ready for action.

Some investment projects go from being committed to being operational very quickly. However, Malacañang said that offshore wind and major physical infrastructure projects need a longer implementation time of up to seven years.

Malacañang added that the implementation time length depends on the investment type. Investing promises made during presidential trips have mostly come true in the IT-BPM sector and light manufacturing, where implementation times were relatively short.

"While the (foreign direct investment) values are modest, the early actualization of investment commitments in these sectors contributes to the decrease in the unemployment rate in the Philippines, given that IT-BPM and manufacturing are significant generators of direct employment," it said.