BOI Signs Agreement with Bank of China on Investments Promotion

The Philippine Board of Investments (BOI), the industry development and investments promotion arm of the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) recently signed (19 January 2018) a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a business cooperation on the promotion of investments in the Philippines with the Bank of China (BOC), one of China’s leading financial institutions.

Under the MOU, BOI and BOC will establish cooperation to promote investments through the conduct of investment seminars or missions, including business matching activities. Both parties will also collaborate to foster economic and industrial linkages between investors and corporations by way of information monitoring and sharing on doing business and industry data. As needed, BOI and BOC will also set up a special working team to undertake areas of cooperation and other shared efforts to attract more investments to pour in the Philippines.

Trade Undersecretary for Industry Development and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo, who signed the MOU on behalf of the agency said, “We are delighted to offer various investment opportunities that can be registered with the BOI through the 2017-2019 Investment Priorities Plan for Chinese companies. The BOI can help investors starting with their due diligence up to the company’s full operation. We hope that through this collaboration, the Philippines and China economic relations will continue to prosper and bring in more Chinese investors to do business in the country.”

Bank of China Ltd. – Manila Country Head Deng Jun who signed the MOU for BOC on the other hand said, “We are very happy to collaborate with the BOI by promoting Philippines to our business clients. As more Chinese investors are showing genuine interest to do business here, the BOC’s mission is to be the bridge between the Chinese market and the Philippine market and promote the use of RMB as an alternative settlement currency to lower the cost of trade between these 2 countries.”

China continuously pours in notable investments in the country, ranking eight top investors in the Philippines. China’s investments in the Philippines reached P2.07 billion in the first nine months of the year, 388 percent higher than its total investments in the same period in 2016.

The Philippines and China relations continue to strengthen as both countries embarked on undertaking various agreements and initiatives which aims to further improve and develop economic relations. Some of the recent significant events between the two economies include the signing of US$13.5 billion worth of business agreements and Memoranda of Understanding during the four-day Presidential Visit to China last October 2016, covering trade and investments, agriculture up to maritime security which is expected to generate over one million jobs into the Philippines.