BOI allows foreign-owned higher education schools to get incentives

Photo from BOI/FACEBOOK
The Board of Investments (BOI) on Tuesday said it made key amendments to the government’s investment priority plan, allowing foreign higher education institutions to avail of state-sponsored incentives under certain conditions.
The BOI, the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) lead investment promotion agency, said it issued Memorandum Circular No. 2024-08 to amend the 2022 Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP) to strengthen the country’s education sector.
“The amendments are pivotal to advancing the national education agenda,” said BOI Executive Director Halili-Dichosa.
“The new guidelines will enhance opportunities for international collaboration that would facilitate access to expertise and knowledge relevant to global industry trends, empower students, and bridge the gap between academe and industry,” she said further.
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Article continues after this advertisementWith the issuance, “education cities” have been placed under the infrastructure and logistics category in the SIPP.
Article continues after this advertisementThese education cities include the development of a contiguous area for the establishment and operation of education facilities and buildings with digital infrastructure.
These education facilities and buildings may include research, healthcare, athletic, culture, and art facilities.
In a follow up message to reporters, Dichosa said these eligible higher education institutions will be under the tier 1 incentives of the SIPP.
This means an income tax holiday of 4 years plus 20 years of enhanced deduction, or 24 years of enhanced deductions for those in Metro Manila, under the country’s new incentives regime.
For metropolitan areas outside Manila, it will be longer by a year – either 5 years of income tax holidays plus 20 years of enhanced deduction or 25 years of enhanced deductions.
For all other areas, it will be 6 years of income tax holidays plus 20 years of enhanced deductions, or 26 years of enhanced deductions.
Despite this, the BOI have set certain conditions for these institutions.
These conditions include partnering with local partners that are at least 60 percent Filipino-owned.
The BOI also said that the issuance to support and incentivize the establishment of education cities and campuses was among the initiatives they presented during the academe-industry matching program launch in November last year.
The program is a multi-sectoral and multi-industry partnership program for the workforce development of the BOI.
The government agency said it provides the platform for “intensified coordination with education agencies and institutions for industry needs to ensure a job-ready workforce adept at technology and the future of work.”