Marcos to agencies: Intensify follow-ups on investment pledges

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has instructed agencies to step up efforts to follow up on the investment pledges made during his foreign trips, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said, as it vowed to make doing business in the country easier for investors.

“We have secured a lot of investment pledges and we won’t end there. What we will do is we will follow them up so they will push through,” Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said in a statement issued by Malacañang yesterday.

“The marching order of the President is to intensify efforts to follow them up to ensure that the investments will be brought to our country by those who promised to make them,” he added.

Pascual gave assurance that the Marcos administration is working to make the processes involved in doing business faster.

“What we will do is we will ensure that the enabling environment will be conducive, and processes should be fast like the securing of permits and licenses. If there are delays, investors would be turned off,” the trade chief said.

Citing a report from the DTI and the Office of the Presidential Assistant on Investment and Economic Affairs, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the administration has secured $4.349 billion or P239 billion worth of investment projects now undergoing the implementation stage.

Some $29.71 billion or P1.7 trillion worth of investment projects are in the form of memoranda of understanding and letters of intent while $28.863 billion or P1.5 trillion worth of projects are in the planning stage.

The Marcos administration has also obtained P3.48 trillion or about $62.926 billion worth of investment pledges from the President’s trip to China, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, the United States and Belgium, according to the PCO.

As of Feb. 9, the DTI’s Board of Investments has approved some P414.3 billion total investment projects.

Last Thursday, Marcos expressed optimism that Filipinos would benefit from the investments soon.

“We will soon feel their positive effects on our economy and the livelihood of our countrymen,” the President tweeted in Filipino.