MANILA -- The Marcos Administration’s Economic Development Group continues to harmonize its efforts to make the Philippine economy more attractive to foreign investors, according to the National Economic and Development Authority as the EDG secretariat following its fifth meeting held on February 19, 2024.

During the high-level meeting, member agencies of the EDG aligned their efforts to facilitate foreign investments in the sectors of renewable energy, critical minerals, and agriculture.

The agencies agreed on the ways forward to address identified bottlenecks and expedite processes to realize the renewable energy projects in the government’s pipeline. The high-level discussions also addressed how investor interest in critical minerals can be translated into tangible investments in mineral processing, particularly in green technologies within strategic value chains.

In his opening statement, Secretary Frederick Go of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs and Chairperson of the EDG underscored the EDG's role in coordinating actionable departmental initiatives to prevent redundancies and ensure alignment among all relevant agencies.

The Department of Agriculture and Department of Agrarian Reform also informed the group of their efforts to encourage clustering and consolidation to support higher agricultural productivity and improve farmer welfare.

Additional guests and resource institutions included in the meeting were the Department of Justice, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the Laguna Lake Development Authority. (NEDA)