Board of Investments sees more investments after successful elections

MANILA, Philippines - More investments are expected to come in now that the elections are over, the Board of Investments (BOI) said over the weekend.

“Given the successful and credible automated elections we had as observed not only by Filipinos but foreign observers as well, I expect more investments to come in,” BOI managing head Elmer C. Hernandez said in an interview over the weekend.

According to Hernandez, prior to the national polls many were predicting a failure of elections. As such, he said investors who were planning on infusing money into the country decided to hold off their plans until after May 10.

In fact, Hernandez said they are courting one big banner investor who is now considering coming to the Philippines. He said the country has a good chance of getting this investor given the renewed confidence in the economic condition of the country.

“There were uncertainty before the elections but we have proven them all wrong. This is a very good indication of our readiness,” Hernandez said.

“Given the fact that many of our investment leads in the previous year have somehow put on hold their decision to invest until after the elections, I expect that these investments will materialize now because we had a credible elections,” he added.

Aside from the May polls, Hernandez said the global economic rebound will also work well for the Philippines. Recent exports data has shown that foreign orders are coming back.

However, in order to maintain the rosy investment scenario, Hernandez said certain concerns must be addressed like the cost of doing business in the country. “If this is addressed properly then there will be a flurry of investments in the Philippines.”

Also, Hernandez said taht investment will also depend on the global economic rebound. Although it has started, there is a financial crisis in Europe. Not only is Europe a major trading partner of the Philippines, it is also a source of investments.

“The global business community cannot isolate the European crisis from the total picture,” Hernandez explained.