The Duterte government is taking advantage of the trade war between United States and China by making the country more enticing to businesses looking to relocate through infrastructure development.
During the pre-SONA briefing of the govt’s economic team, officials said the Philippines is alloting almost a trillion pesos for infra in 2019, which will grow to in the coming years to attract more investments.
The total cost of the Build, Build, Build program of the Duterte administration is estimated to be around P7 to P8 trillion.
“We have to catch and absorb all these investments from China…. In Vietnam, Thailand, they have developed infrastructure to a great extent that they can easily absorb all these investment interests,” said Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.
Lopez also noted that from 2010 to 2015, Chinese investments averaged at just $17 million. That figure has recently grown 5 times to around $200 million during President Rodrigo Duterte’s term.
Meanwhile, the US has long been a trading ally of the Philippines and registers around $500 million yearly.
Other than infrastructure, Lopez said reforms such as the proposed public service law and retail trade law, as well as the review of the foreign investment negative list will further encourage more investments.
The foreign investment negative list lays out investment areas of the economy that are closed to foreign investment as well as areas where foreign ownership is limited to 40% of the venture.
Source: Rappler
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