DTI to reel in P870B worth of investments in 2012

The Department of Trade and Industry aims to reel in as much as P870 billion worth of investment commitments this year as it moves to further strengthen the government’s promotional activities.

Trade Undersecretary Cristino L. Panlilio said the target represented the aggregate investment commitments of the different investment promotion agencies (IPAs).

The Board of Investments alone is targeting commitments worth P405.82 billion this year, while the Philippine Economic Zone Authority is looking at P322.8 billion.

To achieve these targets, the country’s investment promotion agencies recently signed a memorandum of agreement to pursue an integrated, collaborative and harmonized investment promotion program.

Arnel Paciano D. Casanova, who is currently president and chief executive officer of the state-run Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), was also elected as the new head of the Philippine Investment Promotion Plan (PIPP) steering committee.

The PIPP is a blueprint for all IPAs to synchronize strategies to promote investments in the country. The medium-term plan (from 2010 to 2014) covers image building, investment generation and investment servicing designed to build up the country’s brand image.

“The PIPP has been successful in putting the country as one of the major investment destinations in the global terrain. This plan harmonizes our marketing efforts and focuses on … investment promotion strategies,” Panlilio explained.

The investment promotion efforts of IPAs will be reconciled to maximize the use of the country’s marketing resources. At the same time, a focused promotional approach will be carried out to inform the international business community of the investment opportunities in the country, he added.

The IPAs have already agreed to implement their investment promotion program, interlink their information systems, and develop common investment promotion collaterals.

They also agreed to contribute and provide support in funding the development and production of common investment promotion collateral and common investment promotion activities.

The implementation of this agreement will be carried out by the PIPP Technical Working Group composed of representatives of the IPAs, under the direction of the PIPP steering committee.

Also, the PIPP Technical Working Group under Casanova will develop and produce common investment promotion collateral as well as craft the roadmap for an investment promotion strategy.