PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday touted the Philippines’ strong post-pandemic economic recovery, being one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia.
“On the economy, I would like to share with you that for 2023, the Philippines achieved a 5.6 percent annual growth in GDP which outpaced other high-growth economies such as China Viet Nam, and Malaysia,” President Marcos said in his keynote address before the Philippine-US Business Forum in Washington DC.
“Despite the recovery time needed to accelerate businesses coming from the–coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to either exceed or match the economic projections of multilateral organizations, such as the IMF, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, and the World Bank,” he pointed out.
Marcos said the Philippines also saw a significant increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) net inflows, surging by 28 percent, reaching US$1 billion in November 2023 from US$820 million of net inflows recorded for the same month in 2022.
In addition, the Department of Trade and Industry-Board of Investments (DTI-BOI) approved PhP1.26 trillion in investment projects last year, which was an increase of 73 percent compared to the previous year recorded at PhP729 billion.
President Marcos also reported that for last year, the US was also Philippines’ 4th largest source of FDI.
“Over the years, the Philippines has acknowledged the significant contribution of the United States to our economic agenda. We have observed the consistent high ranking of the United States, as evident last year, being our third top trading partner,” President Marcos said.
“Moreover, the United States emerged as the primary destination for our goods and services in that same year,” he noted.
In 2023, semiconductors and integrated circuits were the Philippines’ biggest exports to the US amounting to US$3.1 billion, or 23.3 percent of its total exports to the North American country.
The Philippines is a major part of the US semiconductor and IC design supply chain, with more and more US companies expanding in the Philippines in the sector.
During the US’ first Presidential Trade and Investment Mission (PTIM) to the Philippines last March, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced the American companies’ planned investment in the amount of at least US$1 billion in projects that will create educational and career opportunities for Filipinos.
