In photo: DTI Secretary Fred Pascual during his intervention remarks

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES–In a Ministerial Event on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD), the DTI Secretary recognized the significance of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in generating jobs, enhancing infrastructure, and bringing development to the countryside.

DTI Secretary Fred Pascual and DTI Undersecretary Allan Gepty

At the IFD event, Secretary Pascual underscored, “I am confident that the increased transparency provisions and facilitation measures in the IFD Agreement will create a more predictable and stable investment environment around the world. In the Philippines, we have started our needs-assessment exercise to determine how we can effectively program our implementation commitments.”

Since the IFD Agreement contains adequate Special and Differential Treatment provisions, it gives participants the flexibility to self-categorize their commitments. In the case of the Philippines, the DTI secretary shared that the country has conducted capacity-building sessions and technical consultations to identify the gaps and areas for improvement to attract more investments into the Philippines.

The Ministerial Event on Investment Facilitation for Development at the sidelines of the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference recognizes the remarkable work achieved by participating members of the Joint Statement Initiative on Investment Facilitation for Development (JSI-IFD). The event was co-hosted by Chile and South Korea as the co-coordinators of the IFD initiative. In addition, the IFD participants endorsed the Joint Ministerial Declaration on the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, which currently has over 120 WTO Members.

Highlighting the Philippine government’s proactive stance to attract more foreign direct investments into the country, Secretary Pascual assured, “We will continue doing our part in encouraging more WTO Members to partake in our shared goal of maximizing the benefits of the IFD Agreement.” ♦

Date of release: 27 February 2024

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