Marcos: PH secures $22B in investment pledges from China state visit

BEIJING—The Philippines has secured around $22 billion worth of investment pledges from China, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. disclosed on Thursday.

Marcos met the Philippine media delegation prior to his departure for Manila before noon. In the morning, he had roundtable meetings with Chinese business leaders and investors as he wooed them to invest in the Philippines.

When asked for a ballpark figure of investment pledges secured from China, he responded, “Well, yes, we have ballpark figure but as to what the… well the pledges amount to about $22 billion of pledges for investments.“

He explained that some of the investments have already started constructing and opening their offices in the Philippines.

“Some of these investments have already started their construction, have already started the opening their offices, all of that… these are pledges but they are pledges that are backed-up already by concrete actions in the Philippines,” Marcos said.

“Nagbukas na sila ng opisina, kumukuha na sila ng mga permit, ‘yung mga ibang nakakuha na ng permit inumpisahan na nila ‘yung mga construction. That is included in that number,” he added.

The Chief Executive mentioned that the investment pledges include new areas such as the production of minerals, battery, and electronic vehicles.

“There are other areas na medyo bago-bago, kagaya ng sa processing ng minerals at saka sa battery production, at saka sa electric vehicle production. Ito bago lahat ito. Kaya’t siguro kailangan pa natin pang ipakita sa kanila, mga potential Chinese investors, na magandang mag-invest sa Pilipinas,” he said.

Marcos said this kind of investments are necessary as “green economy is coming up” and “that’s where the global economy is headed.”

Asked how many jobs these investment pledges could generate, Marcos said these could produce “many, many jobs”

“‘Yung today lang siguro, at the very least close to… kasi each operation 10,000 jobs, 30,000 jobs ganoon ang kanilang pinag-uusapan eh,” he said.

“Mahirap mag-estimate but it certainly going to produce many, many jobs when the investments come into play, when they start operations,” Marcos added.

Renewable energy

Included in these investments were pledges for the Philippine energy sector worth $13.76 billion.

During a meeting with Chinese business leaders on renewable energy, Marcos pitched that there are investment opportunities for them in the Philippines as “energy demand continues to grow and keep pace with the country’s projected strong economic growth.”

“We look forward to more Chinese investments in renewable energy pursuits such as in solar and wind, as well as in related sectors including battery energy storage systems and off-grid power supply systems,” he said.

They may also find potential in the manufacturing of renewable energy project parts and equipment, he added.

Marcos also welcomed investors in photovoltaic, onshore and offshore wind turbine generation, waste-to-energy, and other renewable energy projects.

Other areas include investments in the more specialized areas of hydrogen production and storage, energy storage systems, and off-grid energy systems.

In the meeting, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla also promised to address issues confronting the Philippine energy sector, assuring investors that the government is ensuring that these will be worked out.

Among the issues was the connection to the grid to ensure that there will be connection, especially for offshore wind.

Lotilla said with the State Grid of China’s 40% interest in the national grid company of the Philippines, it is important for the Philippines to work together with Beijing.

“So we look forward to continued cooperation on your part and we would like to assure you that working together with our Department of Trade and Industry, we will provide you with full support in order to hasten the cooperation between the Philippines and China,” he said.

Lotilla also echoed during the meeting the Marcos administration’s objectives of attaining 35% renewable energy by 2030, and 50% by 2040.

He said an additional 52,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2040 will be needed to meet the targets.

"And of the 52,000 [energy demand], 27,000 megawatts will be from solar and another 16,000 megawatts from wind,” he said.

“But this does not take into account right now the total offshore wind potential of 178 gigawatts or 178,000 megawatts for the Philippines as a whole,” he added.

Fruits

Around $2.09 billion in purchase intentions for Philippine fruit exports was also secured by the Marcos administration, which includes durian, coconut, and bananas.

Marcos said at least four companies already expressed their intention to purchase more Philippine tropical fruit products, especially durian.

He added that fresh fruits, including Cavendish bananas, have been the top drivers for Philippine agricultural exports to China.—AOL, GMA Integrated News