BOI sticks to P1.5 trillion target project approvals this year

MANILA, Philippines — The Board of Investments (BOI) is sticking to its P1.5-trillion investment approval goal for this year, but expects the green lane for strategic investments launched yesterday to help attract more investors.

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual told reporters yesterday that  they are keeping the P1.5-trillion investment target of the BOI, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

“ It’s hard to have a moving target…Let it be. If we exceed it, fine. If we fall behind, we’ll work harder,” he said.

While the agency is sticking with its investment approval goal for the year, he said the green lane is expected to support investment leads generated from overseas trips to promote the country as an investment destination.

“The establishment of these green lanes is meant to support the investment leads that we have been accumulating from our investment missions,” he said.

He said P3.5 trillion worth of investment leads have been generated from investment missions in Singapore, Indonesia, the US, Japan, China, Thailand and Europe in the past months.

Last February, the Office of the President issued Executive Order (EO) 18, which directs the establishment of the green lane for priority or strategic investments in all government agencies to address the barriers that hamper the entry of investments into the country.

“The EO is meant to expedite, streamline and automate government approval and registration processes for priority investments or strategic investments,” Pascual said.

Strategic investments include highly desirable projects recommended by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board to the Office of the President, foreign direct investments endorsed by the Inter-agency Investment Promotion Coordination Committee, and priority projects or activities under the Strategic Investment Priority Plan.

“The critical provision of EO 18 is the simultaneous processing of applications expediting the often-long queue of permits and applications necessary to commence business operations,” Pascual said.

He said DTI-BOI will establish a one-stop action center that will serve as entry point for all projects qualified as strategic investments.

From the one-stop action center, he said investors will then be directed to agencies for other levels of approval.

Under the EO, national government agencies and local government units are ordered to act on applications within the prescribed processing time of three working days for simple transactions, seven working days for those considered complex, and 20 days for the highly technical ones from the date of receipt of application.

During the launch, Pascual announced that SunAsia Energy was awarded the first certificate of endorsement for the green lanes.

SunAsia Energy is setting up floating solar panels in Laguna Lake to produce a total of 1.3 GW of power.

Pascual said the government is committed to making the Philippines a conducive place for businesses.

“As we all know, the successful and expeditious implementation of investments will translate into more stable and higher-paying jobs for our people without unnecessary delays,” he said.

From January to May this year, investments approved by the BOI jumped by nearly 160 percent to P532.3 billion.