Investment board confident on meeting P220 billion target

The Board of Investments is confident to achieve the P220 billion investment target this year despite the weakening investors' confidence abroad.

Board of Investments (BOI) managing head Elmer Hernandez said the country will depend on the local investors to put in new businesses in the country, while foreign investors are still hesitant to come in, due to political instability.

In an interview, Hernandez admitted that the foreign investors confidence in the Philippines is currently challenged, thus the local investors or the Filipino capitalists will be the savior to boost the investments in the country.

"We believe that we can still meet the investment target by yearend, despite the negative impact on political crisis. We are banking on the local investments to fuel the growth," Hernandez said.

In the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and BOI combined figures for investment performance in the country, Hernandez said total investment has already reached P150 billion for the last seven months, achieving the P220 billion target is not too difficult, he said.

For the first time, he said local investments covered 70 percent of the total investment figures in the country, while 30 percent is the foreign direct investments (FDIs).

"Our local investors have strong confidence in the country. It is a good development, while the general investment impression of the Philippines in abroad is still weak," said Hernandez.

Aside from call center investments or other Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Hernandez said the country is still getting investments in other industries like Information Technology (IT), infrastructure development, food, motor vehicle, healthcare and wellness, mining, among others.

According to Hernandez, the "political war" in the Philippines is no longer affecting the confidence of local investment community as the political issue has become part of Filipinos everyday life.

Unlike the foreign investors, Filipino businessmen continue to invest here, amid the political crisis, he stressed.

However, he said the negative impact of political trouble in the country to foreign investors is only a temporary setback, once resolved, foreign investors' confidence will immediately recover.

Earlier, known business consultant Peter Wallace warned that foreign investors continue to exclude the Philippines for investments, while choosing Vietnam, China, and India, unless President Arroyo will change her leadership style.

Wallace said the Philippines is facing great uncertainty in both economic and political scenes, it is important for the government to handle this very carefully to slowly regain confidence especially for the foreign capitalists.

"Investors are not in the Philippines right now, while factories are moving to China, Vietnam and India, where goods are produced more competitively," Wallace said.

"She [Arroyo] has to change her leadership style, so she can strongly unite the nation," said Wallace an Australian business consultant who is based in the Philippines.

If this problem lingers further, Vietnam is expected to overtake the Philippines in seven years. He mentioned that Vietnam's economy has strengthened as it grew 8 percent, while Philippines is only growing at 5 percent rate.