Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 24) – United States investment inflows in the Philippines could hit $763.74 million in 2023 – three times the amount seen in 2022 – if the pledges generated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his last visit to the country come to fruition, a trade official said.
Marcos recently concluded his six-day official visit to the US, where he participated in the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting. He reaped investment commitments worth over $672 million.
READ: PH gets $672-M investment pledges from Marcos’ APEC trip
“This year, from January to August, we had seen $91.74 million in US investments. The trip of the president for this APEC had generated about $672 million as had been announced,” DTI Undersecretary for Communications Kim Bernardo-Lokin told CNN Philippines’ The Exchange.
“That’s a total of $763.74 million,\” she said. \”That’s three times what we saw last year.”
Bernardo-Lokin said US investment inflow into the PH last year was $250.39 million.
Asked when the country might see these pledges materialize into actual direct investments, the official said some of the promised investment projects would begin in 2024.
“The best way to put it is in terms of internet connection,\” she said. \”When you talk about connectivity, one of the first things the president and DTI Sec. [Alfredo] Pascual witnessed was for the agreement for the deployment of the first two internet micro-geo satellites.\”
The official continued: “Why do I raise this? Because these first two internet micro-geo satellites, the first one will be deployed by next year, that will be around the last quarter of 2024.”
Bernardo-Lokin added that for one of the pledges, the creation of a US manufacturing facility in the Philippines, pre-feasibility studies had already begun.
Meanwhile, Frank Thiel, president of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, disclosed that the organization is expecting a large US trade mission in March 2024, to be led by US President Joe Biden.
