BOI investments up 30% as of mid-July

Investment commitments registered with the Board of Investments (BOI) posted a dramatic 30 percent growth as of mid-July this year, boosted by the initial burst of the government’s flagship infrastructure projects.

Trade and Industry Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo reported that the R79billion MRT-7 project of San Miguel Corporation fueled the growth in total investments to R272.7 billion as of mid-July this year as against the R210.4 billion registered in the same period last year.

The MRT-7 project involves the construction of a 23-kilometer elevated railway line with 14 Stations from San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan to MRT 3 North Avenue in Quezon City.

The project also includes the construction of a 22-kilometer asphalt road from Bocaue Interchange of the North Luzon Expressway to the intermodal terminal in Tala.

The road component is expected to divert northern provincial buses to San Jose Del Monte, decongesting EDSA and dispersing economic activities across the regions.

Rodolfo said there are more projects in the pipeline worth around R18 billion to be approved during the next two BOI Board meetings this month.

This means the BOI could end up with R290 billion in total investments by the end of the month, or for the entire January-July period.

“The figure represents nearly 60 percent of our goal to reach R500 billion this year in line with our 50th Founding Anniversary so we are on pace to achieve that mark,” Rodolfo said.

As of mid-July, Rodolfo said there were 245 projects approved or 25 percent higher than the 192 approved in the same period last year. Employment to be generated upon full operations of these projects is expected to reach 56,056, up by 50 percent from the 37,487 for the same period last year.

More projects are also expected to register with the approval of the guidelines of the new Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).

The new IPP guidelines highlight the broader definition of innovation to include not only projects in manufacturing specific sectors but also those that have lost competitiveness and try to win them back through innovation.

There are businesses that would commercialize any R& D by the Department of Science and Technology and state-owned universities and colleges. With that they will be entitled to BOI perks.

BOI-registered enterprises are entitled to 4-6 years of income tax holiday and one percent duty on the importation of capital equipment.