Japanese firms pledge huge investments

Japanese companies have pledged at least $6bn worth of new investments in the Philippines, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez has announced. 
In a statement, Lopez said President Rodrigo Duterte was present when representatives from these firms inked a memorandum of understanding and letter of intent in connection with investing in the Philippines through joint ventures and the expansion of operations in the Philippines in manufacturing (shipbuilding, iron, steel); agribusiness, power, renewable energy, transportation, infrastructure, mineral processing, retailing, information technology, among others. 
“The total new investments reached $6bn,” Lopez said.  Nearly 18 Japanese companies have pledged investments in the Philippines.
In addition, Lopez disclosed that he met with his Japanese counterpart, Minister Hiroshige Seko, to discuss improving market access and lowering tariff for the Philippines’ agricultural products such as banana, pineapple, mango, as well as Japan’s support for Industrial Co-operation Dialogue and improving supply chain for the benefit of micro, small and medium enterprises in the Philippines.
The Philippines’ net equity capital investments, meaning new foreign direct investments (FDI), dropped to $141mn as of July from $1.45bn in 2016. 
Likewise, the foreign direct investment net inflows of the country fell to $3.6bn which is also lower than the 2016 figure of $4.1bn.