MANILA -- The Board of Investments (BOI) has registered a total of PHP392 billion worth of projects as of Oct. 4, 2017, BOI Governor Napoleon Concepcion said.
Concepcion noted that the investment approvals in BOI as of last week is close to the PHP398-billion average annual investment pledges in the country’s top investment promotion agency (IPA) in the last five years.
BOI data showed that the investment approvals as of Oct.4, 2017 jumped 32 percent from PHP296 billion approved investments in the same period last year.
Concepcion mentioned that the investment pledges as of Oct.4 is already 78.4 percent of the PHP500-billion target investment approvals of BOI for its 50th anniversary this year.
But Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary and BOI Chairman Ramon Lopez earlier said the IPA can surpass its PHP500-billion target approvals for 2017, and the BOI is now looking at hitting the PHP550-billion mark.
“We are expecting to even exceed our target with local and foreign investors keenly exploring opportunities in energy, infrastructure, and agribusiness,” Lopez said.
“Investors are also banking on the construction boom as a result of the Build, Build, Build infrastructure program of the government, and to sustain this, they are also looking at the energy requirements to get this done,” he added.
Moreover, the PHP392-billion investments registered with BOI were from 332 projects, which increased by 17.3 percent from 283 projects listed with the BOI from January to Oct.4 last year.
These projects are also expected to generate a total of 65,196 jobs once they become fully operational.
On the other hand, it was noted that registration of projects from foreign sources plunged by 74.8 percent to PHP12.49 billion in January to September 2017 from PHP49.59 billion in the same period of the previous years.
Lopez added that DTI is also aggressive in doing road shows abroad to promote the country as an investment destination, and to clarify the negative perception of the international community towards the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the BOI has registered 15,161 projects worth PHP6.38 trillion since it was founded on Sept. 16, 1967 up to end-September 2017.
It was in 1997 that BOI reached its highest investment approvals of PHP580 billion. (PNA)
