MANILA, Philippines — Approved investments by the Board of Investments (BOI) soared by 155 percent to P463 billion in the first quarter from P182 billion in the same period last year, driven by the significant increase in foreign investment approvals.
Of the total, approved foreign investments surged by a dramatic 3,722 percent to P165 billion from only P4.33 billion a year ago.
Similarly, local investment approvals also posted a 68-percent growth to P298 billion in the first three months from P177 billion in the same period last year.
“With investment prospects being very positive, and as we continue to receive serious interest from global investors, we are definitely on track to meeting our new annual investment target of P1.5 trillion,” Trade Secretary and BOI chairman Alfredo Pascual said.
The bulk of foreign capital came from Germany (P157 billion) followed by the Netherlands (P2.7 billion), the United States (P1.2 billion), Japan (P524 million) and the United Kingdom (P293 million).
In terms of regional dispersion, investments in Western Visayas led the way with P293.3 billion while Calabarzon took second place with P112.7 billion. This was followed by Ilocos Region (P38.7 billion), Davao Region (P3.6 billion) and Eastern Visayas (P3.6 billion), completing the top five regions.
The BOI said the renewable energy/power sector remained dominant with P440 billion in approvals to date, 156 percent higher than last year’s P172 billion.
Similarly, manufacturing also posted a 416-percent growth in investments, to P17 billion from P3.3 billion.
Other big sectors include administrative services (P3.7 billion), transportation and storage (P1.2 billion) and agriculture (P929 million).
Among the top projects approved from January to March include the German-owned wpd Philippines Inc.’s P392.4 billion offshore wind farms located in Cavite, Negros Occidental and Guimaras, and the Filipino-owned 3 Barracuda Energy Corp. with its P36.9-billion solar energy project located in Ilocos Region.
“The number of renewable projects coming in is concrete evidence that we are on our way to becoming a global hub for sustainability and green projects, aligned with the national government’s policy of promoting cleaner and more sustainable sources of energy. We aim to attract more renewable energy players globally as full foreign ownership is now allowed under the amended implementing rules and regulations of the Renewable Energy Act,” Pascual said.
He said the Philippine economy continues to perform strongly, with the country’s gross domestic product expected to grow by 7.1 percent in the first quarter as the employment and national government spending showed positive signals, making the Philippines one of the fastest-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific.
“The steady growth is proof of the government’s resolve to further improve the country’s business environment through investment-friendly policies. We shall continue with our aggressive investment promotion campaigns as investments are also set to provide higher quality and better-paying jobs for Filipinos,” Pascual said.
In February, Pascual raised the BOI’s investment approval target for this year to P1.5 trillion from P1 trillion, driven by strong investment approvals in the beginning of the year and the robust pipeline of investment leads.
He said the agency has potential investment leads of around P344 billion that will still be processed, adding that “more likely than ever, we may have 80 to 90 percent of the target even before the middle of the year.”