THE foreign travels of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. have raked in more than P4 trillion worth of investments in various stages of development, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
As of Dec. 21, 2023, the DTI said in a press statement that the investments included 148 projects.
Marcos had traveled 11 times to nine countries this year, visiting three of these countries twice: the United States, Japan, and Indonesia.
The other countries he visited this year were China, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.
Marcos did not travel outside the country in March, June and August.
Investments
Based on DTI’s list, these are the consolidated and processed investments: business, investment promotion agency (IPA) registered with operations (US$205.53 million or P11.4 billion); business/IPA registered ($983.21 million or P54.75 billion); IPA registration in progress operations ($5.079 billion or P282.8 billion); signed agreement with clear financial project value ($9.771 billion or P544.152 billion);
Others are signed memorandum of understanding/letter of intent ($28.529 billion or P1.588 trillion); and confirmed investment not covered by MOUs/LOIs and still in the planning stage ($27.345 billion or P1.522 trillion).
The DTI said it is also monitoring 20 projects that have received approval and registration from various IPAs of the DTI, Board of Investments and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
These investments—realized and in the pipeline—are mostly in the sectors of manufacturing, Information Technology-Business Process Management, renewable energy, data centers and telecommunications.
Japan visit
The DTI further said that the business engagements during Marcos’ visit to Japan for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)-Japan Commemorative Summit in December were added to its monitoring. The trip accomplished $263.08 million or P14 billion to the total value and nine investments to the total number of projects.
There were also three signed agreements with clear financial project value worth $85.07 million, and six MOU/LOI valued at $178.01 million.
In DTI’s Dec. 14 update, it said the President’s visit to the United States for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders’ Meeting in San Francisco, California last November was added to its monitoring.
This visit brought an additional $672.3 million (P37.2 billion) in investments, spread across six projects. These projects include a $400 million (P2.2 billion) investment in telecommunications, $2 million (P110 million) in artificial intelligence, $250 million (P13 billion) in manufacturing, $20 million (P1.1 billion) in health sciences/pharma manufacturing/health services, $300,000 (P16 million) in energy, along with an undisclosed investment in health sciences/pharma manufacturing/health services. The projects are composed of signed agreements with clear financial value and memorandum of understanding/letter of intent.
Yearlong travels
Marcos’ international engagements started this year with his first trip, a state visit to Beijing, China, from Jan. 3 to 6.
This was followed by a series of strategic visits to various countries. He traveled to Davos, Switzerland, from Jan. 15 to 20 to attend the World Economic Forum, then to Tokyo, Japan, from Feb. 8 to 12 for an official working visit.
The President did not travel abroad in March.
His next destination was Washington D.C., United States, from April 30 to May 4 for an offical visit. This was immediately followed by a visit to the United Kingdom on May 5 and 6 to attend the coronation of King Charles III.
The President then visited Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, from May 9 to 11 to attend the 42nd Asean Summit. He did not travel in June. From July 25 to 27, Marcos was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a state visit. He stayed in the Philippines in August.
Marcos returned to Indonesia, specifically Jakarta, from Sept. 4 to 7 for the 43rd Asean Summit.
He visited Singapore from Sept. 13 to 17, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from Oct. 19 to 21. On Nov. 14-19, he was in the United States, specifically in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu for the Apec Leaders’ Meeting.
Marcos’ final international trip for the year was to Tokyo, Japan for the Asean-Japan Commemorative Summit, from Dec. 15 to 18. (KAL)