BOI-registered investments jump 22% to P48.9-B in 1st 10 months

Investments approved by the Board of Investment (BOI) including those approved by the Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA), totaled P48.875 billion in the first 10 months of the year, up by nearly 22 percent from P38.563 billion in the same period last year.

Of the total inflows, BOI-approved investments amounted to P24.576 billion while PEZA accounted for P22.298 billion.

For the period in review, the BOI-approved investments went up by 37.42 percent from only P17.884 billion a year ago. Of this amount, foreign investors accounted for P27.774 billion while local investors pumped in some P19 billion.

PEZA-approved investments, on the other hand, rose by 7.83 percent from last year’s P20.679 billion.

Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II said that investments started picking up in September.

In October, Roxas said, two Petron projects worth a total of P5.265 billion was recorded of which P3.349 billion was allotted for Petron’s gas hydro-treated project and P1.917 billion for a light virgin naphtha isomerization for gasoline.

Roxas said the decline in investments in manufacturing ventures has finally bottomed out.

As of September, manufacturing investments registered with the BOI and PEZA amounted to P16.028 billion, 33 percent lower than last year’s P24.038 billion.

Roxas said that investments in the information technology sector surged by 52 percent to P6.639 billion during the 10-month period from P4.374 billion in the same period last year.