2017 FDIs seen hitting $11B

Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo said the Philippines was expected to generate between $10 billion and $11 billion in foreign direct investments (FDI) by the end of this year, partly due to the government’s new foreign policy focusing on establishing closer economic ties with nontraditional allies such as China.

Rodolfo made this statement in a speech delivered on Wednesday in a business matchmaking seminar attended by representatives of about 20 Chinese firms visiting Manila, a bid to further attract more investments from the world’s second largest economy.

“In 2016, it already reached about $7.9 billion and we foresee that for this year we can hit between $10 billion and $11 billion. Thanks to the very strong interest of Chinese companies in the Philippines and the new foreign policy of the government,” he said.

According to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country posted $7.933 billion in FDIs last year, up by 40.7 percent from $5.639 billion in 2015.

Actual FDI flows last year surpassed the targets for both 2016 and 2017, which were set at $6.7 billion and $7 billion, respectively.

Should FDI this year reach the trade official’s target, this means foreign investment levels would go for a more than 30-percent jump.

Rodolfo, who is also managing head of the Board of Investments, did not say how much of the boost this year would come from the country’s newfound allies—China, and Russia—which accounted for a small portion of FDI flows last year.

He made a pitch to Chinese firms to invest in the Philippines, citing the advantage of the country’s current trade arrangements such as the Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP +) which would allow duty free access for over 6,000 products shipped from the Philippines to the European Union market as long as the country adheres to certain international conventions.

The Duterte administration has redefined the country’s foreign policy by seeking closer ties with Russia and China, even at the expense of sometimes publicly alienating traditional allies such as the EU and the United States.

President Duterte recently visited Russia and China, bringing home trade and investment commitments that reached billions of dollars.