Investment pledges hit record P617 B this year

MANILA, Philippines — Investment approvals by the Board of Investments (BOI) soared to an all-time high this year, surpassing by nearly a quarter the full year target of P500 billion.

The BOI said yesterday investments approved this year hit P617 billion, the highest in the agency’s 50-year history and 39.5 percent more than the P442 billion recorded in 2016.

The BOI‘s previous record for approved investments was posted in 1997, at P570.1 billion, which came mainly from investments due to the privatization and deregulation of public utilities such as water supply and telecommunications.

This year’s investment pledges, meanwhile, came from a total of 426 projects mainly in infrastructure and power.

The agency said these projects would generate around 76,065 jobs upon full operations.

“This validates business confidence in President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic programs to ensure inclusive growth and shared prosperity for the country. The influx of investments is definitely steamrolling, as we are expecting sustained higher investments for the next five years,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said.

“The momentum of our 6.9 percent GDP (gross domestic product) growth in the third quarter and 6.7 percent overall growth for the first nine months have definitely carried over in the fourth quarter, investment-wise, and further boosted with the frenzied economic activity given the holiday season,” Lopez added.

The BOI has targeted an ambitious investment approval level of P500 billion for 2017 to mark the agency’s 50th founding anniversary.

“We were happy then to just reach our P500 billion target. But to blitz past the P600 billion mark is something we are definitely ecstatic as this only proves the continuing confidence of the investors in making their business grow in the Philippines,” Lopez said.

Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo attributed the surge in investments to the designation of focused strategic sectors under the 2017 Investments Priorities Plan (IPP), as well as influx of infrastructure and power projects and the strong growth of domestic demand.

Power and energy projects accounted for the largest chunk of the approvals at P268.168 billion, followed by infrastructure and public-private partnership (PPP) projects at P127.66 billion.

The resurgence of the manufacturing industry likewise continued as investments in the sector almost doubled to P96 billion this year from P49.26 billion in 2016.

Real estate and mass housing projects reached P86 billion, while projects in the transportation and logistics sector were valued at P15.91 billion.

“The increase in infrastructure projects this year supports the BOI’s push for the growth in economic activities outside Metro Manila and the Build Build Build or the massive infrastructure program of the administration,” Rodolfo said.