Investments dip sharply in Q1

Investments in the first three months of the year remained anemic as investors continued to adopt a wait and see attitude in light of the expected recovery in the US economy, the country’s largest trading partner.

Based on a report from the Board of Investments (BOI), capital inflow registered with the BOI plunged by more than 80 percent to only P4.71 billion in the first three months of the year from P26.88 billion in the same period last year.

Investments in economic zones also posted a sharp drop of 73.75 percent to P3.823 billion from P14.568 billion last year, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported.

Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II, however, chose to highlight the fact that despite the drop in investments, these inflows still resulted in significant job generation.

"We should not be misled by the drop in investment figures of both the BOI and PEZA because a closer look at the data disclosed that we have been able to create jobs and livelihood and pursue our poverty alleviation program," Roxas said.

According to Roxas, for projects registered with the BOI, a job could be created for every P640,000 worth of investments instead of the P3.6 million that had to be invested during the same period last year.

For PEZA firms, Roxas said, a P388,000 investment made this year could generate an additional job while projects registered last year had to invest an average of P1.3 million to create jobs.

The biggest project registered with the PEZA last month was Tann Philippines Inc., a wholly owned affiliate of the Austrian Tann-papler Gesellschaft m.b.h., the world’s leading manufacturers of special printed fine paper. The project is expected to employ 61 workers.