Investment boom
FDIs registered with BOI up 29% Jan-May 2018
FOREIGN investors remain bullish in Philippine investment prospects as foreign direct investment (FDIs) registered with the Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) grew 29 percent from January to May 2018 to P7 billion compared to P5.38 billion worth of registered projects in the same period last year.
The growth in FDIs contributed to the overall increase in BOI registrations as investment projects approved the agency was up by 18.92 percent from January to May 2018 to P207.480 billion from only P174.472 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Actual FDIs compiled by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) show US$2.2 billion in net inflows as of the first quarter of 2018, up 43.5 percent from US$1.5 billion in the same period last year.
BOI data shows Japan the country’s top foreign investor with P2.645 billion from January to May 2018, followed by Italy with P485 million, China with P472 million, United States with P463 million, and Hong Kong with P206.82 million.
Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation (TMPC) was the top investor for May 2018 increasing its additional investments in the CARS Program by P2.56 billion, including the P899 million in body side member stamping.
On the other hand, Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corporation also reported an increase of P820 million which, together with Toyota's new investments, brings in the total additional CARS investments of P3.38 billion.
“The Philippines has a growing economy. In fact, our country is projected to grow more than five times its current economic size and become the 24th biggest economy in the world by 2030. Together with this growth, we see stronger demand for many projects on infrastructure, services, manufacturing, and utilities,” Trade Secretary and BOI Chairman Ramon Lopez said.
“These figures are just preliminaries. We expect more foreign investments to come in as a result of the various presidential visits and investment promotion activities conducted in the past months,” Lopez added.
Registered investments from local sources also grew during the period with P200.547 billion worth of projects. The figure is 18.60 percent higher compared to only P169.091 billion in the same period last year.
The increase in investment registrations in the first five months of the year is buoyed by power and energy projects (P106.552 billion), transportation and storage (P39.817 billion), manufacturing (P19.358 billion), real estate (P14.535 billion), and water supply (P13.872 billion). “While the BOI’s current investment incentives are primarily geared towards domestic investors in strategic industries, the increase in FDI shows that there are opportunities for attracting foreign companies to serve domestic, contestable (by imports) markets, if only the relevant incentive tools are available,” Trade Undersecretary for Industry Development and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said.
In terms of geographical investment locations, Central Luzon has the most numbers of locators with P77.352 billion followed by Calabarzon with P57.991 billion. The National Capital Region came third with P31.969 billion as the 2017-2019 Investment Priorities Plan was purposely intended to disperse businesses outside Metro Manila. Davao Region came in as fourth placer with P14.136 billion, followed by Western Visayas with Php3.493 billion.