Foreign trade missions swamp ‘attractive’ PH

The Philippines has sustained a strong investor confidence in the first quarter this year, given the record number of trade and investment business delegations that arrived in the country.

“The good news is that in the first quarter this year, we had many delegations coming in, reflecting a significant increase from last year. And based on indications, we expect more delegations to come,” said Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo.

In the first quarter this year, the Department of Trade and the Board of Investments recorded 68 visits and business delegations that have come in, according to Trade Undersecretary Ponciano C. Manalo Jr.

Manalo, alone, conducted six outbound missions in the first four months of the year—one in Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, and twice in Malaysia.

These visits pertain to those conducted with the DTI and excludes the missions that have arrived to meet with other investment promotion agencies and the various business groups in the country.

Throughout the rest of the year, DTI expects more missions to arrive, including a high-level delegation from the United States this June, led by US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Domingo disclosed.

According to Domingo, the Philippines remained an attractive investment destination, with many countries continuing to send their business delegations here. These are the countries that have not been here before or have not sent business delegations to the Philippines for some time.

“Like over the last two years, it has been a while since we saw a French or a German delegation in the country.  Amy R. Remo