Approved investment pledges up 105%

INVESTMENT pledges approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) surged by 105 percent to P764.7 billion in the first nine months of the year from last year’s P372.9 billion.

In a statement on Thursday, the BOI said that of the total amount, P524.9 billion came from domestic sources, while approved projects by foreign investors amounted to P239.9 billion.

Once operational, these projects would create 41,862 jobs, which is a 38.5- percent increase from 30,218 last year.

Singapore remains the top foreign investor with P170 billion.

South Korea came next with P34.1 billion; The Netherlands, P9.2 billion; Thailand, P8.6 billion; Japan, P6 billion; and the United States, P2.4 billion.

“We are particularly pleased to highlight that the share of foreign investments in BOI projects have increased from just 8 percent during January to September 2018 to already 31.4 percent this year,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said.

Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said investments from the information and communications technology (ICT) and power sectors accounted for 85 percent of the total figure, or P652.9 billion.

“This massive infrastructure buildup for more power and connectivity across the archipelago is critical toward addressing binding constraints to the Philippines’ competitiveness. [This] development also complements the consistent growth of the manufacturing sector, with P63.5 billion in approvals, or a massive 190-percent growth from just P21.9 billion last year,” he added.

Hotel and accommodation projects worth P9.5 billion were also approved during the period, according to the Trade official.

“Tourism is among the biggest job creators in our country, along with manufacturing. With the innovative advocacy campaigns of the Department of Tourism,

the Philippines experienced an overwhelming surge of domestic tourists, which reached over 110 million in 2018 and already exceeded the 89.2 million target by 2022, as stated in the National Tourism Development Plan,” Rodolfo said.

For September alone, approved investment pledges reached P155.7 billion, up 50.3 percent from P103.6 billion a year ago.

Orion Pacific Prime Energy Inc.’s P130.3- billion 1,200- megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Quezon province is the biggest approved project for the month.