P11.5B worth of projects listed for Cebu and Bohol
The Board of Investments registered P11.5 billion worth of projects in Cebu and Bohol in the first quarter of 2018.
In a data furnished by BOI-Cebu investments specialist Philip Torres yesterday, it showed the agency registered two projects in the first three months, one of which is a P10.9-billion cement manufacturing plant in Pinamungajan, Cebu.
The project, which is owned by Century Peak Manufacturing Corp., is expected to generate 296 jobs.
The other project is a bulk water treatment and supply in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.
This P548-million water project by Richli Corp is also expected to create 27 jobs.
The amount of registered projects in the first quarter of 2018 is higher than the P2.7billion registered in the same period last year.
Torres said the agency was working on various pending projects — which include mass housing, hospital and hotels — up for registration.
"We have pending applications for registration," he said in a phone interview yesterday.
In 2017, Central Visayas was the fourth top investment destination in the country for 2017, based on BOI's data.
BOI data showed a record of P27.1 billion total BOI-approved investments in the region with 88.6 percent of the investment pledges located in Cebu.
While the value of investments slightly dropped 5.42 percent from 2016, the total number of projects significantly increased to 31 from 20 projects in 2016.
The largest share of approved investments is in the manufacturing sector, which accounted for P12.99 billion share to total approved investments.
Real estate activities in the region are expected to remain upbeat with more projects coming up.
Previously, BOI-Cebu head Ellorence Cruz had said the BOI seeks to register more projects this year including tourism, manufacturing and agricultural projects.
Cruz had said the agency still expects mass housing to lead the registered projects this year, with the growing population and a growing need for housing.
Earlier, BOI reported a P195.7 billion worth of investment approvals for the January to April 2018 period nationwide, 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 earlier said in a statement.
“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,” Lopez said.
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.
Based on BOI's 20172022 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), preferred investment areas include manufacturing including agri-processing; agriculture, fishery and forestry; strategic services; infrastructure and logistics including local government unit publicprivate partnerships; health care services including drug rehabilitation; mass housing; inclusive business models; environment and climate change; innovation drivers; and energy.
Also deemed priorities are: export businesses including services, activities in support of exporters, and production and manufacture of export products; activities based on special laws that grant incentives like Republic Act (RA) No. 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, RA 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 and RA 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009, among others; and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.