$194-M in new mining investments top list of projects under MTPDP

In the first implementing year of the Medium-Term Philippine Development Program (MTPDP), the National Government was able to enter the development and construction stage of three mining projects with total estimated investments of $194 million.

Two of the three projects will be fully operational within the year and would contribute to the development of communities and local governments with mineral resources, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

In its accomplishment report for the six-year MTPDP, NEDA said the National Government is on track particularly in the key industries of mining, information and communications technology (ICT), and tourism.

"Of the total target of implementing 18-23 medium to large scale mining projects, the government was able to generate a total of 2,716 and 13,580 direct and indirect jobs, respectively," the NEDA report noted.

The NEDA report said the early developments was spearheaded by the issuance of Executive Order (EO) 270 or the National Policy Agenda on Revitalizing Mining in the Philippines. The EO mandated the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to formulate a strategic plan for the mining industry.

After consultations with the minerals industry, professional groups and academe, civil society, and even mass media, the Minerals Action Plan (MAP) was formulated to resolve the concerns for a full revitalization of the minerals industry.

The MAP became operational in September last year.

The catapulting of the mining sector to national significance was boosted by the Supreme Court’s reversal of its earlier decision declaring as unconstitutional certain provisions of the Mining Act, particularly those allowing the 100-percent participation of foreigners in the large-scale exploration, development and utilization of mineral resources.

Meanwhile, the ICT subsector, including information technology (IT) services such as call centers and business process outsourcing, manufacture of semiconductors and other IT-related equipment, and telecommunications accounted for P22 billion of total foreign dierect investments (FDIs), representing an increase of 76 percent over the comparable period last year.

In addition, investment commitments by local investors also expanded but at a relatively slower rate of 25 percent, or from P30 billion in 2003 to P37 billion in 2004.

"The extraordinary rise in committed investments, if sustained and translated into actual investments, could contribute to the attainment of the target investment rate of 20.3 percent in 2005," the NEDA said.

However, the investments committed were not expected to create jobs substantially.

About 103,024 jobs are projected to be generated, which is only 6.4 to 7.4 percent of the 1.4 to 1.6 million jobs targeted to be generated annually.

The government think tank also reported that tourism arrivals expanded by 20.1 percent in 2004, hitting the target of 2.3 million visitors.

These arrivals generated 2.81 million jobs as projected for the year, and $1.99 billion in tourism receipts or increases of 20.6 percent and 30.7 percent, respectively, over the 2003 levels. Tourism receipts, however, were below target as the length of stay of visitors slid down to 9.11 nights in 2004 from 9.17 nights in 2003 while expenditures increased by a modest 2.84 percent.

Arrivals from various tourism markets increased, but the structure of the country’s tourist markets remained unchanged. In 2003, visitors from East Asia and North America comprised 47 percent and 23.7 percent of total arrivals, topped by the USA (20.9 percent), Japan (16.7 percent) and Korea (16.5 percent).

Moreover, "first visit tourists" were less (28.63 percent) than "repeat visitors" (56.29 percent), indicating the country’s apparent weakness in attracting new visitors.