Foreign direct investments in the country will soon improve, Malacañang said Tuesday, after a significant drop in the influx of new investments was recorded in the first six months of the year.
“Definitely,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said, responding to questions if the country’s FDI figures will recover.
Citing data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said new investments declined by 90.3 percent in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period last year.
“Especially so that the President has given his assurance that his whole intention is to finish his term,” Abella said, adding that President Rodrigo Duterte is keeping his promise of a “comfortable life” for Filipinos that would extend beyond his term.
“He’s in fact looking forward to beyond 2022, not for himself but for the rest of administration… for other administrations to come in order to bring in a decent life for the Filipino people,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Philippines has invited Ireland to explore infrastructure development and other economic opportunities in the country.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano conveyed the invitation to Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney during their bilateral meeting in New York.
“Foreign Minister Coveney and I discussed real opportunities for economic cooperation for the Philippines and Ireland, and we are both looking forward to making this happen,” Cayetano said.
Cayetano discussed with Coveney the “Build Build Build” Program of the Duterte administration, and encouraged Irish companies to consider participating in the program.
The secretary also cited the ongoing tax reforms, transparency, and other new economic policies that would make the Philippines attractive to Irish companies.
Coveney mentioned real opportunities for economic cooperation between Manila and Dublin in the technological and medical industries, information and communications technology and software development, and food and nutrition.
Ireland is seeking to expand its export markets, particularly in food products, as it produces 10 times more than what its population of 4.77 million people needs, Coveney said.
With the European Union Free Trade Agreement, the Philippines could access the EU through Ireland, which is now the only English-speaking economy in the regional bloc following the United Kingdom’s exit, the Irish minister said.
Joey Concepcion, the presidential adviser on entrepreneurship, meanwhile said it is only “a matter of timing” that FDIs will soon reap fruit, adding that commitments made by foreign investors could take some time to materialize.
“On the foreign direct investments, of course, these are the long-term ones. They take time. So sometimes, the commitment is a commitment. There are always delays,” Concepcion said.
Analysts and businessmen had warned that the killings under Duterte’s drug war, as well as his verbal tirades against Western countries, could dampen investor confidence in the Philippines, reversing the initial optimism after his inauguration last year.