CEBU, Philippines – Instead of spending money from the government’s coffers to market the Philippines as an investment hub abroad, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) shifted focus and plans to bring in more foreign missions to the country.
In the latest issue of DTI’s “Philippine Business Report”, DTI secretary Gregory Domingo said that the government will be hosting more inbound missions, which include companies and big ticket investors from Middle East and Europe.
“We need to get the business people to come and see the Philippines for themselves, so we can change their perception of the country,” the secretary said.
According to Domingo, it would be easier to convince investors to come by being able to see for themselves what the country has to offer instead of just being told positive stories about the Philippines.
Such strategy would likewise better enable the country to promote itself and place it on top of investors; list of investment destinations.
“It is a common sentiment, especially in the Middle East and Europe, that the Philippines is not in the frame of mind, not on the radar screen of investors. We need to raise the consciousness of the people there that we are a good place for investments,” he said.
To jumpstart the inbound missions, DTI Undersecretary for International Trade Group Adrian Cristobal, Jr. and DTI Undersecretary for Industry and Investments Group Cristino Panlilio, who also serves as Managing Head of the Board of Investments (BOI) are set to go on separate trips to the Middle East and Europe to meet with businesspeople there.
Visits to the Philippines would be scheduled during those meetings. Once in the country, the Middle Eastern and European investors would be taken to various Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) sites and locators, as well as to central business districts in Makati, Ortigas, and Cebu.
On the other hand, market analyst and economist Wilfred Son Keng Po earlier suggested that the Philippines should attract first the big Filipino investors in the country to put more investments here, in order to regain interest from global investment community.
At present, global investors are still doubtful of the Philippines’s sustained economic vigor, and that it needs the full support from the local investors to put money on infrastructure, in partnership with the government.
He said foreign investors will not come here and put their businesses 100 percent, it has to partner with local players. Thus, confidence among the Filipino investors is very important in attracting foreign direct investments (FDIs).
Meanwhile, investments registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) in the January-August period this year grew by 31.2 percent to P70.9 billion, from P54.1B recorded in the same period last year.
Of these committed investments, some 58,260 direct jobs are expected to be generated, or 11.1 percent more than last year’s 52,421.
The PEZA Board approved 332 projects consisting of 293 projects for locators for manufacturing and information technology (IT) enterprises and 39 projects for developers and operators of economic zones.
PEZA Director General Lilia B. De Lima said the investments were a mixture of the expansion of existing manufacturing and IT companies, agro economic zone, tourism areas, and the investments of new investors.
The new investments are mostly joint venture projects with Singaporean, American, and Japanese firms. (FREEMAN)