The BOI attributed this to the massive expansion projects undertaken by major telecommunications firms in 2001.
Among the biggest BOI-registered investments during the period, Globe Telecom Inc. topped the list with P39.728 billion, followed by Smart Communications which pumped in P17.102 billion for its expansion project.
Digital Telecommunication Phils. Inc. ranked third with investments amounting to P8.17 billion.
Other top investors in 2001 were: Unisys Public Sector Services Corp. with more than P7 billion; Rapu-Rapu Processing Inc. with a fresh investment of P2.747 billion; Philippine Passport Corp. with an investment worth P2.5 billion for passport and visa production under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme; the PNOC-Energy Development Corp. with P2.171 billion for its Northern Luzon Wind Power Project; Easycall Communications Phils. Inc.’s P1.46 billion; and Philexcel Industrial Park with investment worth P1.168 billion for its expansion project.
Meanwhile, investments registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) plunged by 52 percent to P35.7 billion in 2001 from P74.1 billion in 2000.
As of January this year, PEZA-approved investments fell further to just P702 million from P3.432 billion in the same period in 2000.