BOI, PEZA register P77.7-B investments in January-April

The Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA) posted a total of P77.67 billion in investments from Jan. 1 to April 30 this year.

The PEZA alone approved P18.07 billion in locator investments in the special economic zones.

The BOI, for its part, managed to attract P6.8 billion for the first four months of this year.

However, the total investment figure for the four-month period was boosted by the posting of the P52.8 billion cumulative investments that came in under the Retail Trade Law.

The Retail Trade Law took effect in 1997 but it was only in 1999 when the registration of projects through the BOI started.

The biggest investment came from the US-based McDonalds, which poured P36.7 billion in 155 outlets nationwide.

Other retail trade giants with local operations include Louis Vuitton Malletier SA, Adidas Salomon AG and Watsons Personal Care Stores.

Thus, compared to the P66.81 billion in investments recorded from January to April 2005, the P77.67 billion for the first four months of this year showed a 16.255 percent increase over the comparable inflows last year.

According to BOI managing head Elmer C. Hernandez, the four-month investment figures "is an indication that investor confidence in the country is not waning."

In fact, Hernandez said, "we are seeing an influx of interest not only in the stock market, but also in hard investments." Investments in the IT sector jumped 212 percent to P3.11 billion, accounting for 13 percent of total investments.

With its labor-intensive nature, job opportunities to be created by these IT projects totaled to 20,920.

The manufacturing sector, which accounts for 46 percent of total investments attracted P11.48 million. Investments in the real estate sector amounted to P6.34 billion.

The No. 1 investor in the country are still American, with P7.83 billion; followed by the Japanese with P4.14 billion and Singaporean with P1.4 billion.