The Board of Investments (BOI) is confident it would hit its P1 trillion investment approvals target for 2023, citing serious interests from global investors.
Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual, who is also BOI chairman, attributed the renewed interest of multinationals following the aggressive but strategic promotion initiatives being conducted globally with no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the country’s top salesman.
Also complementing these aggressive investment promotion efforts is the fact that the country was off to a great start in 2023 with the strong performance of the economy with a 7.6 percent GDP growth. This growth rate, Pascual said, surpasses the official target of 6.5 to 7.5 percent for the year, which makes the Philippines as one of the fastest-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific.
“Such growth is remarkable as it is the country’s biggest economic expansion in nearly 50 years since 1976’s 8.8 percent growth. This is a testament to the efficiency of our government's post-pandemic recovery efforts. We shall continue our aggressive investment promotion campaigns as investments are also set to provide higher quality and better-paying jobs for Filipinos,” Pascual said.
“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 annual investment target of Php1 trillion. We are not even through with the second month of the year and we already have secured nearly half of our full-year target for investment approvals,” he added.
“So far, the agency still has potential investment leads of around P344 billion that will still be processed and more likely than ever, we may have 80 to 90 percent of the target even before the middle of the year,” Pascual stated.
“The increase in investments proves that the government’s promotional visits abroad led by no less than the President himself, are working as a growing number of investors from around the globe, from Southeast Asia, the US, Belgium, China, and most recently Japan, have shown strong interest in putting in more investments into the country,” he boasted.
Pascual also noted that BOI foreign investment approvals performed even better, accelerating to P163 billion in the same period, a stunning 65,436 percent growth from just P249 million in the same timeline in 2022. It accounted for nearly 40 percent of the aggregate total with domestic investment nods taking up the rest with P251.3 billion, a 47.6 percent rise from P170.3 billion last year.
Based on latest BOI figures (January to February 9, 2023), the bulk of foreign capital is from Germany with P157 billion followed by the Netherlands (P2.7 billion), Japan (P524 million), the United States (P509 million), and the United Kingdom (194 million).
Conversely, BOI registered the largest approvals in 2022 among the investment promotion agencies (IPAs), P729 billion of P927 billion, equivalent to 76 percent of total IPA foreign and domestic approved investments.
“BOI-approved foreign capital for barely the first months of 2023 has already reached 56 percent of the total figure for all IPAs last year. So, this year looks very promising with heightened prospects and through our collective efforts, we are on course to surpass the 2022 figure way ahead of time,” Pascual said.
In terms of regional dispersion, investments in Western Visayas led the way with P293.3 billion, and CALABARZON took up second place with P111.7 billion. Eastern Visayas (P3.5 billion), Central Luzon (P3 billion), and National Capital Region (P783 million) completed the top five regions.
The renewable energy/power sector remains dominant with P398.7 billion in approvals to date, up 138 percent from the same period last year with P167.9 billion. Manufacturing is also on the upswing with P12.3 billion in approvals, up 13,982 percent from just P87 million in the same time frame in 2022. Administrative services (P1.3 billion), agriculture (P901 million), and transportation (P847 million) also make up the biggest sectors.
Among the top projects approved for January 2023 is German-owned wpd Philippines, Inc.’s P392 billion offshore wind farms located in Cavite, Negros Occidental, and Guimaras, which will provide greener power solutions to local communities and businesses.
“We aim to be a global hub for sustainability and green projects that align with the national government’s policy of promoting cleaner sources of energy, for which full foreign ownership is now allowed under the amended implementing rules and regulations of the Renewable Energy Act,” said Pascual.
Just six weeks at the onset of the new year, total investment projects approved by the lead investment promotion agency reached P414.3 billion based on latest BOI figures as of Feb. 9 this year, surging by 142.9 percent compared to the same period last year when it recorded P170.5 billion.