Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 17) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s trips abroad have generated ₱3.48 trillion in investment pledges, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said.
“Total foreign investments committed during the President’s official travels include in Indonesia, $8.48 billion ; Singapore, $6.54 billion; United States, $3.847 billion; Thailand, $4.62 billion; Belgium, $2.20 billion; China, $24.239 billion; and Japan, $13 billion,” the PCO said in a statement on Friday.
Overall, that’s nearly $62.93 billion, or around ₱3.48 trillion across 116 different investment pledges or projects, according to Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual.
Since his inauguration in June 2022, Marcos has visited Indonesia, Singapore twice, United States, Cambodia, Thailand, Belgium, China, Switzerland, and most recently, Japan.
Marcos said some of the commitments generated by his foreign trips have already started bearing fruit.
\”I can already report that some of the MOUs [memoranda of understanding] that we signed in Indonesia and in Singapore, mayroon ng resulta [already have results]. And in fact, I think in the next couple of weeks, we will be starting to inaugurate some of these projects already,\” he said.
He made the statement after a meeting on Thursday with officials of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Office of the Presidential Assistant on Investment and Economic Affairs (OPAIEA) to review the investment pledges.
According to the PCO, $4.349 billion or ₱240 billion of the projects were in various stages of development within their respective countries.
Projects worth $29.712 billion or ₱1.64 trillion had existing MOU or letters of intent.
Lastly, $28.863 billion or nearly ₱1.6 trillion worth of projects were in the planning stage, it added.
Marcos said that the 116 investment pledges would have to be consolidated in order to begin implementation.
“We will have to converge all of the different agencies of government so that we are working off the same plan,” he noted.
“We’re moving very quickly to, as I say, make sure that while the Philippines is still on top of mind of these investors that we immediately explore those opportunities and take advantage of the contacts that we made during these trips,” Marcos added.
However, former National Economic and Development Authority Director-General and socio-economic planning secretary Solita “Winnie” Collás-Monsod said that foreign investment pledges should be taken with a grain of salt.
“Pledges are nothing but words, I want to see the money coming in. If that money comes in, fine, if not, then they are just pledges,” Monsod told CNN Philippines’ The Exchange on Friday.
‘ ’32’: ’embed’: ‘\”It’s just a roadshow, for exposure and trying to convince people that the investment pledges that come in during a president’s trip are not just because of the president’s trip,\” she said. \”There’s a whole lot of work that goes in before that. In other words, these were investments that were already planned by the investor.\”
\”In President Duterte’s term when he went to visit China, China promised $23 billion and I think we got about $2 billion. If it’s a Chinese investment, let’s not count on it,\” she added.
On the other hand, Monsod said that pledges from Japan, the United States, or European nations were reliable.
