Gov’t: PH wins in Duterte trips

Economic managers were optimistic President Duterte’s overseas visits would bring in $59.3 billion in economic benefits, fending off criticisms that the foreign trips were all for naught amid declining foreign direct investments (FDIs).

In a text message to reporters Tuesday night, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the President’s foreign trips “resulted in various deals,” including $37 billion worth of investment pledges for business-to-business deals, $18 billion in official development assistance (ODA) funds, and $4.3 billion in trade deals.

It was earlier reported that the Duterte administration spent at least P501 million for 19 trips to 17 countries since he took office.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia also said the “drop in total FDIs was only 14 percent by the second quarter,” clarifying a report from Sen. Franklin Drilon that there was a “significant deceleration.” Citing end-June data, Drilon said the entry of new investments, not money reinvested in existing businesses, dropped 90.3 percent to $141 million in the first six months of 2017 from $1.448 billion a year ago.

Pernia said reinvestments must be part of the bigger picture as “[reinvestments] are just as good as expansion of operations does create employment multipliers, too. This is the standard method of measuring FDIs.”