BOI investments up 28% in first 4 months of 2018
The Philippine Board of Investments (BOI), the country’s lead investments promotion agency, recorded a P195.7 billion worth of investment approvals for the January to April 2018 period, an increase of 28 percent compared to the same period last year where it posted P153.1 billion.
“The strong macroeconomic fundamentals and the continuous policy reforms sustained the increase of investments in the country,” Trade Secretary and BOI Chairman Ramon Lopez said.
“The additional projects registered in April maybe moderate but over the coming months we express confidence more investors will continue to come in and make up for the shortfall. We also expect that Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) will pick-up as its outlook is always long-term which will generate more jobs and business opportunities,” Secretary Lopez said.
Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo elaborated that the bulk of the investment projects for the month of April came from the six air transport projects of Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) with a combined investment amount of Php19.05 billion while the biggest single project approved was the Php5.2 billion project of MWM Terminals, Inc., a public-private partnership (PPP) known as the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange in Coastal Road.
“These six projects by PAL alone indicate there is strong passenger traffic demand and once operational, it will re-energize the tourism industry especially when Boracay reopens before the end of the year,” Undersecretary Rodolfo said.
The renewable energy/power sector remained as the number one source of investments with P104.3 billion in the first four months of 2018, up 401 percent from last year’s P20.8 billion in the same period. This was followed by the transportation and storage sector which generated P37.5 billion, up by a remarkable 1566 percent from P2.25 billion in the same period last year. Manufacturing investment projects meanwhile reached P15.9 billion, a three percent uptick from last year’s P15.4 billion in the same frame. The water supply, sewerage and waste management Sector (P13.9 billion) and Real Estate Category (P12.7 billion) on the other hand rounded up the top five sectors.
Countryside investments continue to dominate the figures from January to April with an aggregate Php165.5 billion, or 84.6 percent of the total investment pie with the National Capital Region (NCR), accounting for the remaining 15.6 percent share. Overall, Central Luzon (Region III) continues to be the frontrunner among all regions with P77.4 billion in investments approvals, up 501 percent from last year’s P12.9 billion during the four-month frame. Calabarzon (Region IVA) is runner-up with P52.8 billion. NCR is third with Davao Region (Region XI) and Western Visayas (Region VI) completing the top five with P14.1 billion and P3.5 billion, respectively.