Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
Investment pledges registered with the Board of Investments (BOI), the government’s premier investment promotion and generating agency, from January to date (April 17) reached P607 billion, a 15 percent jump from the January to April 2023 performance.
In January to April 2023, the BOI logged P527.24 billion worth of investment approvals.
During a media briefing on April 19, BOI Director for Investments Promotion and Policy Service Sandra Recolizado said this year’s investments so far come from 117 projects, with a project cost amounting to P494.37 billion from domestic investors.
Majority of the projects are in the renewable energy (RE) sector, the biggest of which is the P296.98 billion worth 1,400 megawatts (MW) Pakil pumped storage hydroelectric power project of Ahunan Power, Inc. in Laguna. Ahunan Power is a 100 percent Filipino-owned company.
Following this is Ivisan Windkraft Corporation’s P83.70 billion 450MW Frontera Bay offshore wind energy project in Cavite. Ivisan Windkraft is a 25 percent Filipino and 75 percent Singaporean-owned firm.
The BOI noted that since the figures are based on the most recent Board meeting as of April 17, the total investment amount in the first four months may change if other projects in the pipeline will be approved by the end of this month.
“Maraming nakaapply ngayon sa atin na being evaluated pa. Yung mga nasa pipeline na for checklisting. Kumbaga hindi pa natin accepted but meron na tayo interaction with them (Many that have applied are still being evaluated, like those in the pipeline for checklisting. We haven’t accepted them but we have had interaction with them),” said Recolizado.
Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual cited the importance of local investments to the Philippine economy, saying these investments should also be celebrated as much as foreign investors.
“Wag nating liliitin yung domestic investments kasi yun nga ang iencourage natin talaga sa Pilipinas (Let’s not belittle domestic investments because that’s what we want to encourage in the Philippines), that our domestic investors commit their capital to projects in the Philippines rather than bringing out their money, their capital outside the Philippines,” said Pascual.
In January, the BOI said it is hoping to reach around P1.3 trillion to P1.5 trillion in investment approvals for the whole of 2024.
By the end of 2023, BOI recorded P1.26 trillion approved investments. Foreign investments totaled P766.97 billion (contributed by large investors from Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United States) while P493.23 billion were from domestic investors. — Khrischielle Yalao
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
