BOI raises 2023 investment target by 50% to P1.5T

TRADE CHIEF EXPLAINS RCEP:  Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual , in a  committee on foreign relations’ hearing on Dec. 12, 2022, explained how the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would help bring in more investments to the Philippines.  (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)

The Board of Investments (BOI) on Thursday revised its target investment approvals this year to P1.5 trillion, 50 percent higher than what was initially set, banking on its strong performance at the start of the year and the outstanding volume of investment leads for the remainder of 2023.

“Given the strong investment approvals for January, as well as the robust pipeline of investment leads—including those generated through presidential visits—I have increased the 2023 investment registration target of the BOI from P1 trillion to P1.5 trillion,” said Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual.

The BOI is the lead investment promotion agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, which is headed by Pascual.

The BOI on Saturday expressed confidence in hitting its P1 trillion worth of investment approvals target this year, banking on what it called the Marcos administration’s “aggressive and strategic” investment promotion initiatives.

Last week, it said its total investment approvals had already reached P414.3 billion as of Feb. 9, just six weeks from the start of 2023.

On Monday this week, Pascual said they have potential investment leads of P344 billion.

The BOI is coming from a strong performance last year when it was able to arrest a two-year decline, approving a total of P729 billion worth of investments, which is equivalent to an 11- percent growth from  the P655 billion registered in 2021.

Foreign investments

Approved investments stood at P1.02 trillion in 2020 and at P1.14 trillion in 2019.

Of the BOI’s total approved investments in 2022, its foreign investment portfolio performed the best in terms of growth, surging from just P249 million to P163 billion.

The bulk of these foreign investment pledges were from Germany, totaling P157 billion. The Netherlands followed with P2.7 billion, Japan with P524 million, the United States with P509 million and the United Kingdom with P194 million.

On the other hand, domestic investment approvals stood at P251.3 billion in 2022, registering a 47.6-percent increase from the P170.3 billion last year.

The biggest portion of these investment commitments,  or P293.3 billion, will go to the Western Visayas region.

The Calabarzon (Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Rizal, Quezon) region took up the second biggest share, with P111.7 billion.

Another P3.5 billion would go to the Eastern Visayas region, P3 billion to Central Luzon and P783 million to the National Capital Region.

The power sector would benefit the most from these investments, with P398.7 billion going to renewable energy.

The manufacturing sector followed with P12.3 billion , while P1.3 billion would go to administrative services, P901 million to agriculture and P847 million to transportation.