Investment pledges approved by the Board of Investments in the first nine months of this year has more than doubled to P734 billion from the year-earlier period, bolstered by gains from the foreign visits of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a trade and industry official said Tuesday.
BOI-approved investments between January and September last year total P362 billion, most of them from local investors.
This year, the foreign investment pledges approved by the BOI surge over 40 times to P427 billion while domestic investments total P307 billion, Trade and Industry Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo told a briefing held in Malacanang.
“I would say that most of the P427 billion (investment pledges) were directly affected by presidential visits because of the countries where they came from and the sectors that are the recipients of those foreign investments.”
Trade and Industry Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo
Rodolfo were among the officials who briefed President Marcos about the outcome of recent presidential trips ahead of the chief executive’s trip to Saudi Arabia this week to attend the maiden summit of Southeast Asian and Gulf states leaders.
Rodolfo said aside from the presidential visit, preparations made by the government to attract more foreign investors have also help increase investment pledges. He said an example of this is the decision last year to remove foreign equity restrictions on renewable energy projects that has drawn more investments in the sector.
Rodolfo is optimistic that future foreign trips of the president, including this visit to Saudi Arabia, will result in increased foreign investment pledges in the country.
President Marcos is hopeful Saudi Arabia will be convinced to investment in the government’s Maharlika Investment Fund.
