The Board of Investments (BOI) is aiming for another all-time high in investment pledges this year, if some big projects in the pipeline get approved.
Trade Secretary and BOI chair Ramon M. Lopez hinted at this last week, noting that a Chinese state-owned firm submitted what could be the largest Chinese industrial investment pledge to date.
Lopez was referring to HBIS Group Co., the third largest steelmaker in the world, which wanted to put up a $4.4-billion integrated steel and iron project in Misamis Oriental.
“We hope to have a fast approval of this project hopefully before the year ends. With the approval of this project, I must tell you in advance that we will hit again another record [in our] 51-year history,” Lopez said during the signing ceremony for the project last week.
The HBIS Group signed a memorandum of understanding with Huili Investment Fund Management Co.,Ltd., Steel Asia Manufacturing Corp. and Phividec Industrial Authority.
The first phase of this project, which costs $3 billion, is seeking registration under BOI in order to enjoy incentives such as income tax holidays.
“This year, I won’t give you the number, but we will definitely beat the P617 billion investment by a wide margin before the end of the year,” Lopez added.
According to a source, the steel hub is not the only project that will boost current figures. There are also other big ticket projects in the pipeline.
These other projects—one in infrastructure development, one in cement, and then in mineral processing—together with the Chinese steel investment pledge will amount to P274 billion in total.
As of the middle of November this year, the BOI has already reached P575 billion worth of investment pledges. If the upcoming projects get the green light, the total year-end figure for pledges will be closer to P850 billion.
This will be around 38 percent higher than the all-time high of P617 billion hit last year. This will also be 25 percent higher than BOI’s P680-billion target for this year.