President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. delivers his 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa on July 22, 2024. (Screenshot from RTVM)
MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., in his 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa on Monday, said the current investment commitments in the country would create more than 202,000 jobs for Filipinos.
“A substantial number of investment pledges have already commenced operations, with many more at various stages of development,” he said.
Earlier, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual said 20 projects that were committed to the Chief Executive during his presidential visits are already operating.
These projects have poured in USD1.26 billion worth of capital.
“Our aggressive infrastructure development, business-friendly policies, investment and export promotions, foreign visits, and economic missions, are all aimed at generating not just jobs but quality and competitive jobs,” Marcos said.
Pascual said more than 200 investment leads in the DTI have a potential value of more than USD70 billion. These leads create a pipeline of project registrations for DTI-attached agencies Board of Investments (BOI) and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).
“The rationalized incentives scheme under the CREATE Act (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act) has also made possible the generation of investments amounting to more than PHP1 trillion, and more than 100,000 new jobs. This promising state of affairs is now beckoning us to create more through the passage of the CREATE MORE (CREATE to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy) Act,” Marcos added.
The government, he said, has conscious efforts to improve the ease of doing business through digitalization and streamlining of processes.
The President said the “green lane,” which was created through Executive Order 18, facilitated more than 100 projects with trillion pesos of potential investments.
The One-Stop Action Center for Strategic Investments (OSAC-SI) at the BOI issues green lane certificates to investments with high economic impact to fast-track the processing of permits and licenses in concerned government offices. (PNA)
