QUEZON CITY (PIA) -- The Philippine government has already secured nearly half of its full-year target for investment approvals in just six weeks at the onset of 2023.

Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Investments (DTI-BOI) reported that with investment approvals on the rise for January 2023 amounting to P414.3 billion, it expects to hit its P1 trillion investment approvals annual target for this year.

The bulk of foreign capital is from Germany with P157 billion followed by the Netherlands with P2.7 billion, Japan with P524 million, the United States with P509 million, and the United Kingdom with P194 million.

Meanwhile, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said the sectors expected to receive the highest investments include the renewable energy market, infrastructure, manufacturing, information technology, and business process management.

As the Philippines continues to receive serious interest from global investors the government still expects to receive more investment in the coming months.

“So far, the agency still has potential investment leads of around P344 billion that will still be processed, and more likely than ever, we may have 80 to 90 percent of the target even before the middle of the year,” Secretary Pascual said.

These increases in investments are the outcome of the aggressive but strategic promotion initiatives being led by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during his various business trips abroad.  This is in line with the goal of the Chief Executive to put the Philippines at the top of mind among global investors.

Complementing also these aggressive investment promotion efforts, Trade Secretary Pascual said the country is off to a great start in 2023 with the strong performance of the economy with a 7.6 percent GDP growth.

This shows the strong commitment of the current administration to pursue various investment agreements to improve the economy and provide high-quality jobs for the people. (KSAA – PIA CPSD)