Central Visayas spark as preferred investment hub waning

CEBU, Philippines — Central Visayas is falling in the ranking of Top Investment destinations in the country this year.

National Economic and Development Authority regional director Efren Carreon said that Region 7 fell to the 8th place in the top 10 investment destinations in the Philippines, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

This was down from Central Visayas’ 4th ranking in 2017, Carreon noted during a yearend meeting of the Regional Development Council recently.

Carreon said investments in the region grew only 1.4% this year from the 6.7% growth last year.

The region — which is composed of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor — was behind regions such as the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, Western Visayas, Davao Region and CALABARZON, among others, in terms of attracting investments.

As of the first nine months of 2018, Board of Investments-registered projects in Central Visayas totaled P14.02 billion.

Nine projects were registered during the third quarter, totaling P2.55 billion, official data showed.

In 2017, Central Visayas was the 4th top investment destination in the country for 2017, according to BOI.

BOI data had showed a record P27.1 billion worth of BOI-approved investments in the region last year with 88.6 percent of the investment pledges located in Cebu.

The BOI, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, is the lead investment promotion agency mandated to facilitate foreign and local investments by providing fiscal and non-fiscal incentives such as tax holidays, duty-free importation of capital equipment, and employment of foreign nationals, among others.