More jobs on the way as BOI-approved projects grew 38% at end-Oct

The value of investments registered with and approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) surged 38 percent year-on-year at end-October to reach P408.7 billion, bolstering hopes that the agency would reach its full-year goal of P500 billion.

In a statement, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez expressed continued bullishness in attracting more investments in the last two months of the year since “the infrastructure program of the government is now in full swing.”

“The successful hosting by the country of the Asean 2017 meetings and the recently announced 6.9-percent GDP [gross domestic product] growth [in the third quarter], which surpassed the estimates of experts, will sustain the momentum on investments as the year comes to a close and will surely carry over to the new year with greater opportunities,” said Lopez, who is also BOI chair.

The 369 BOI-approved projects in the January-October period were expected to generate 69,862 jobs. The number is 35 percent more than the expected jobs that would be provided by the 283 projects approved in the same period of 2016.

In October alone, the BOI listed P27.6 billion worth of projects, 187 percent higher than the P9.6 billion recorded in the same month last year.

“We are on track of achieving our P500 billion for the year as a slew of projects in the pipeline are expected to make the cut,” BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said.

He said renewable energy projects remained the biggest source of investments with P128.9 billion—about a third of the total value—in the 10 months to October.

In terms of regional locations, Calabarzon attracted P150.9 billion (37 percent of total) worth of projects, while Central Luzon had P115.1 billion (28 percent) and the National Capital Region had P42.5 billion (10 percent).