The Board of Investments (BOI) generated a total of P729 billion worth of committed projects in 2022, 11.63 percent higher than the P655 billion approved in 2021 and looks forward to achieving P1 trillion investments in 2023.
Trade and Industry and BOI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo said Wednesday, Dec 21, the approved 2022 projects are expected to create 260,000 new jobs from around 47,000 units in 2021 or 454 percent increase.
Big growth drivers for 2022 are power, in particular renewable energy with 56 percent share of total investments followed by ICT such as data centers and telco towers with 28 percent share with huge projects and Communication (in particular, Data Centers and telco towers.
Other big ticket investments are in the manufacturing, mass housing, and transportation and Storage, including Logistics/Cold Chain facilities, sectors.
The BOI also cited the P52.3 billion investments in projects related to electric vehicles (EVs) such as charging stations.
These EV projects include the setting up of 1,000 charging stations, lease of electric vehicles (10,000 units + 50 charging stations), and operation of electric vehicle transportation network service with 10,000 units and 50 charging stations, said Rodolfo.
Top country sources are Singapore (57 percent), Japan (22 percent), UK (seven percent), US (three percent), Virgin Islands (two percent), and South Korea (two percent).
"The 2022 BOI approval levels clearly indicate that despite the lingering effects of the Pandemic especially in the first half of the year, coupled with global decline in Investments due to the Russia-Ukraine War, Investors continue to have strong confidence in the Philippine economy,” said DTI Secretary and BOI Managing Head Alfredo E. Pascual.
Rodolfo also stressed that, “Equally important, we have to highlight the composition of the Approved Projects—these are very Strategic and are fully aligned with the direction that DTI Secretary and BOI Chair Fred Pascual had set.”
He noted Pascual’s direction that the agency’s industrialization program should be based on “Innovation, on Sustainability, on Digitalization, and on Connectivity.”
“Thus, you can see the clustering of Projects in the area of Renewable Energy, in Data Centers, in Telco Towers, and in Electric Vehicles.”
Moving forward, the BOI is targeting P1 trillion investments for 2023.
“We have a healthy pipeline of strong leads, including those generated and further confirmed thru Investment Missions by the Secretary and thru the Presidential Visits by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,” said Rodolfo.
In setting the P1 trillion investments target for 2023, Pascual said strong leads from the renewable energy from the Missions and Presidential Visits have generated strong, with tangible interest particularly in the area of Off-shore Wind power generation projects.
“Investors welcomed the strong political will of the Administration to push for RE, especially with the recent amendment by the DOE of the Renewable Energy Act IRR to now allow for 100% Foreign Equity ownership of Solar, Wind and Tidal power projects,” said Pascual.
“RE Investments are of critical strategic importance for the Philippines as we position the country as the regional hub for Innovation and Sustainability drive manufacturing and services. We provide the solution for companies who are actively looking for suitable location that will help them achieve their Net-Zero Carbon commitments.
In addition, we also have investment leads that are looking to take advantage of our full-implementation of game-changing reform legislations in the area of Public Utilities, Retail trade, and Tech Start-ups.”