P38.7-B projects approved during GMA’s 1st 100 days

Board of Investments (BOI) managing head Vincent Perez reported over the weekend that during the first 100 days of President Arroyo, or from Jan. 20 to April 10 this year, a total of P38.734 billion worth of new Investment projects were approved by the government, specifically the BOI and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). The figure was a dramatic 111.97-percent jump from the comparable period last year wherein total approved Investments by both the BOI and PEZA amounted to only P18.273 billion.

Perez said the BOI approved 57 projects with an estimated project cost of P27 million. These projects are expected to generate jobs for 7,144 people once the projects are fully on-stream.

BOI’s total approvals for the period rose by a whopping 184.3 percent from last year’s P9.512 billion.

For PEZA, Perez reported a total of 62 locator projects worth P11.7 billion which are expected to generate employment for 10,079 workers.

In the same period last year, PEZA approved a total of only P8.761 billion worth of projects.

Perez said the Increase in Investments would be sustainable despite the recent political turmoil.

He disclosed that a large US firm, belonging to the Fortune 50 company met with him last week during the height of the riot at Mendiola.

"The company representatives saw for themselves that the riot was contained in a small area and that elsewhere it was peaceful," Perez said.

Perez also said that the perception of foreign investors in the Philippines has not deteriorated because of recent events.

In fact, he considers the unrest as a mere "bleep" which happened quickly and "enhanced the image of the (Arroyo) administration.

Foreign investors, he assured, continue to make a lot of inquiries about the country.