By GDM Staff

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said the investment pledges by Chinese businessmen during his state visit to China is “expected to create many jobs” for Filipinos.

“It’s certainly going to produce many, many jobs, when the investments come into play, when they start their operations,” said Marcos.

“Mag-uumpisa pa yan sa training capacity building— doon sa magiging empleyado nila, that will be starting very soon,” he added.

Investors were said to have committed USD 22.8 billion in investment pledges, USD 1.72 billion for agribusiness, USD 13.76 billion for renewable energy, and USD 7.32 billion for strategic monitoring.

“Some of these investments have already started their construction, have already started opening their offices, all of that,” continued Marcos.

He also added the pledges are “backed up already by concrete actions in the Philippines.”

“Nagbukas na sila ng mga opisina, kumukuha na sila ng mga permit. ‘Yung mga iba na nakakuha na ng permit, inumpisahan na nila ‘yung mga construction. So that is included in that number,” he said.

“But there are other areas na medyo bago-bago, kagaya ng sa processing ng minerals at saka sa battery production at saka sa electric vehicle production. Ito bago lahat ito. Kaya’t siguro, kailangan natin pa ipakita sa kanila na mga Chinese, potential Chinese investors, na maganda mag-invest sa Pilipinas,” said Marcos.

The president likewise highlighted the significance of the transfer of technology and minimizing the repatriation of profits.

“So that’s what we are looking for now. To make sure that these investments not only provide jobs for the local economy, but there’s also a transfer of technology that the repatriation of profits are minimized and the value added is left in the Philippines,” Marcos said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority previously reported that the unemployment rate in the country dipped to 4.2 percent, or equivalent to 2.18 million unemployed Filipinos in November 2022.