MANILA — The Board of Investment (BOI) approved PHP39.3 billion worth of projects from foreign sources in the first 10 months of the year.
BOI reported Wednesday that foreign investment pledges from January to October this year surged 156 percent from only PHP15 billion worth of projects registered with the investment promotion agency in the same period in 2017.
Top sources of foreign commitments in the January to October period include Indonesia with PHP6.4 billion worth of projects, Malaysia with PHP2.9 billion, Japan with PHP2.8 billion, Australia with PHP1.1 billion, and China with PHP1.1 billion.
Significant investments were also registered by firms from the United States of America with listing PHP612 million of projects, Italy with PHP485.7 million, Singapore with PHP404.1 million, and Switzerland with PHP357.7 million.
“The latest BOI investment figure is a concrete testament to the continued confidence of the international investing community on the strong fundamentals of the Philippine economy and the policy reforms and infrastructure development under President Duterte’s administration,” Trade Secretary and BOI Chair Ramon Lopez said.
The growth of foreign investment pledges supported the overall investment approvals during this period, with total approvals of PHP516 billion, a 26-percent increase from PHP409 approvals in the same period last year.
“After the record-breaking investment approval figure of PHP617 billion in 2017, the agency is working hard to breach its investment target of PHP680 billion for this year. The rest of the year should be exciting. There are several big-ticket projects undergoing strict evaluation process, to ensure that incentives are needed to realize their strategic impact,” Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo noted. (Kris Crismundo/PNA)
