The Board of Investments (BOI) registered P616.7 billion worth of investment pledges this year, its highest since the agency’s establishment five decades ago.
Trade Secretary and BOI chair Ramon Lopez yesterday said such accomplishment was a validation of the business confidence in the Duterte administration.
It breached BOI’s yearend target of P500 billion, which was set in time for its 50th year anniversary. The latest investment figure was 39.5-percent higher than the P442 billion recorded in 2016.
According to BOI, the previous highest record was in 1997, back when the agency reported P570.1 billion mainly from investments due to the privatization and deregulation of public utilities.
“We were happy then to just reach our P500-billion target. But to blitz past the P600 billion mark is something we are definitely ecstatic as this only proves the continuing confidence of investors in making their business grow in the Philippines,” Lopez said.
He said that he expected to sustain higher investments for the next five years.
The record-breaking figure was accounted for by 426 projects. Once these projects become fully operational, they would generate around 76,065 jobs, a 12.5-percent jump from last year’s 67,634 jobs.
Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo attributed the growth to the 2017 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) and to the strong domestic demand.
Under the IPP, the government invites companies to invest in BOI’s preferred business activities by luring them with tax perks as a way to push for regional development.
Power and energy projects were the top performing sectors with P268.17 billion in approved investments, followed by infrastructure and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects with P127.67 billion.
The manufacturing sector, the third top-performing sector for the year, attracted P96 billion this year, an increase close to 95 percent from P49.26 billion in 2016.
Japan topped the list of sources of foreign investments under BOI this year, reaching P8.9 billion.
Singapore followed with P3.5 billion and Australia placed third with P1.99 billion.
Region IVA (Calabarzon) was the top destination for BOI-registered investments with P294.6 billion or 48 percent of the total.