DTI exec says Marcos' Japan trip fetched $10-B investment deals

A top official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Saturday that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s official visit to Japan yielded about $10 billion worth of investment commitments.

In a media forum in Quezon City, Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said that the DTI is tracking about $10 billion or around P500 billion to P550 billion in investment pledges from Marcos’ Japan trip, according to a statement released by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).

“And we really credit a big part of that to the strong efforts of the President to promote the Philippines,” Rodolfo was quoted as saying.

The Philippine delegation in Tokyo raked in 35 investment pledges spanning across business interests in infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, healthcare, telecommunications, among others.

Marcos is in Japan for a five-day official visit from February 8 to 12, 2013.

The President has even said that the effects of the deals and agreements from Japan will be felt back home “very, very soon, very rapidly.”

Rodolfo, meanwhile, said that once the Japanese companies see very strong Philippine opportunities, they will register with the Board of Investments (BOI), the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Clark Development Corp. (CDC,) and the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB).

Also, the Trade official that the DTI set this year’s investment target for the BOI at P1 trillion, up from P729 billion last year.

In 2021, BOI’s investments reached P655 billion, Rodolfo said.

“Sabi noong isa nating malaking negosyante that the Japanese investors are all the more really encouraged to invest in the Philippines because they really see the hard work that the President has put into promoting the Philippines. So iyon ho, that is a good news for everyone," the DTI official said.

Companies that actually registered at the BOI for the first month of this year already reached P414 billion, the DTI undersecretary said.

This means the government investment body already hit more than 40% of the P1 trillion target, Rodolfo said, adding if BOI’s registered investment is compared with last year’s record, it has already reached close to 60%. —LBG, GMA Integrated News