THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Wednesday asked congressmen for a bigger budget for its investment promotion programs, saying additional funds would help attract more foreign capital amid growing competition in Southeast Asia.
Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque told the House of Representatives increasing the budget for investment promotion to P1.5 billion from P1 billion could boost state marketing efforts to draw foreign investors.
“We aim foreign investments to be in the P1-trillion mark, but the budget for that is only P1 billion,” she told a House committee on appropriations hearing. “We were really hoping to increase it further so that we can use it for marketing, to market the Philippines globally, especially that we have competitors in Southeast Asia.”
The Board of Investments (BoI) approved P382.24 billion in investments in the first half, roughly 22% of the full-year target of P1.75 trillion, according to government data.
“We want a trillion in sales, so we must also do a lot of marketing,” Ms. Roque told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the hearing.
About P1 billion is allocated for investment attraction programs. The DTI is requesting an additional P500 million to support marketing activities across agencies, including the BoI and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).
“It’s really to fund marketing gimmicks or to do marketing to be able to attract foreign investors to our country,” Ms. Roque said in an interview. “Advertising is expensive, especially abroad. But we need to advertise ourselves as a destination for foreign investments.”
The proposed increase would also help fund foreign trade attaché missions and overseas business trips aimed at courting investors and promoting the Philippines as an investment destination.
The DTI is also seeking a budget boost for its export and investment promotion program, designed to help Filipino businesses expand overseas amid trade disruptions.
About P931.9 million is being requested for next year, a 3.3% increase from this year’s P902.3-million budget.
“We’re really expecting more, especially for exports,” Ms. Roque said. “As I always say, the US is not the only market. We should broaden our horizons to really explore other countries.”
She noted that the trade landscape is “still changing,” and that “nothing is final yet” regarding the US market.
The request comes after US President Donald J. Trump threatened to impose “substantial additional tariffs” on exports from countries that impose digital taxes on the US. The US started applying a 19% tariff on Philippine goods starting Aug. 7. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
