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Was Marcos' Singapore F1 trip productive? NEDA says 'not privy' to details

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Officials have yet to detail what the Philippines gained from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.&#x27;s latest trip to Singapore during the Formula One Grand Prix, where he reportedly sought to bring in investors. Socioeconomic Secretary Arsenio Balisacan on Tuesday said he was “not privy” to investment pledges that Marcos could have secured from the unannounced weekend trip some 2 weeks ago.“I don’t have the number, I was not privy to that,” Balisacan said in a Palace briefing.Marcos described the races as &quot;the best way to <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/03/22/marcos-singapore-f1-grand-prix-best-way-to-drum-up-business">drum up business</a>.&quot; Former Press Secretary Trixie Cruz Angeles meanwhile said Marcos’ trip was “<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/10/03/22/malacaang-says-marcos-singapore-trip-productive">productive</a>” and that he strengthened initial talks with investors.Balisacan said “a big part of the efforts to bring in investments to the country is like a courtship.”“You have to keep pitching the attraction or attractiveness of the Philippines as an investment destination,” he said.“It’s not enough that you talk once to them or twice. It has to be a frequent follow-up and ensure them the issues that they raised the first time,” he said.Marcos’ earlier state visits to Indonesia and Singapore yielded P804 billion in investment pledges, while his business meetings on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly had nearly $4 billion in investment pledges, officials said. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/08/22/marcos-touts-p804-b-in-investment-pledges-from-state-visits">Marcos touts P804 billion in investment pledges from state visits</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/29/22/marcos-bags-nearly-4-b-investment-pledges-from-us-palace">Marcos brings home nearly $4 billion worth of investment pledges from US: Palace</a></li></ul>“Major investments usually take time to materialize,” Balisacan said.“It’s fast if you get those investments in one year because when big investors go to a country or expand their operations in a country, they’ll do their work to ensure that their investment will deliver the returns,” he said.“You don’t expect that when they promise, they come in, the next day they are already there.”The Philippines lags behind its neighbors in terms of attracting foreign capital, but the government is hoping that recent reforms to investment laws will help draw in more outside investors. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/12/22/fdi-net-inflows-slide-to-471-million-in-june">Philippine FDI net inflows slip by more than half to $471 in June</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2275587" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Officials have yet to detail what the Philippines gained from President Marcos' trip to Singapore during the Formula One races. 

Was Marcos' Singapore F1 trip productive? NEDA says 'not privy' to details

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Was Marcos' Singapore F1 trip productive? NEDA says 'not privy' to details

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 18, 2022 04:21 PM PHT

Read More:

Bongbong Marcos

Ferdinand Marcos Jr

Formula One

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Arsenio Balisacan

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