INVESTMENT approvals by the Board of Investments (BoI) surged to P950 billion in the first six months of 2024, a result said to be the highest six-month tally in the agency’s 57-year history.
The investment pledges — 36 percent higher than the P698 billion recorded a year earlier — moved the BoI closer to achieving the 2024 target of P1.5 trillion approved investments, Trade Undersecretary and BoI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said on Thursday.
“We are well on track towards hitting and even exceeding that target,” Rodolfo told reporters.
Trade Undersecretary and BoI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo
The BoI’s record investment tally came a day after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported a 36.9-percent drop in foreign direct investments — which comprise actual investments and not pledges — in April.
“The April decline in FDI is viewed as a temporary setback, primarily influenced by global economic headwinds,” Trade Secretary Fred Pascual said in a statement.
“Our confidence in the Philippine economy remains unshaken, supported by a 19-percent increase in FDI over the first four months of the year compared to last year,” he added.
“We are also banking on the investment pipeline built from the BoI’s high level of foreign investment approvals.”
Rodolfo attributed the growth in investments to government policy changes, such as allowing full foreign ownership of RE projects, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s trips abroad.
He also cited efforts by other government offices such as the Trade, Energy and Transportation departments to facilitate permits and establish needed logistics and infrastructure.
Majority of the pledges were from Filipino investors and mostly comprised renewable energy (RE) and power projects. Domestic investments amounted to P613 billion while foreign investments totaled P287 billion.
The projects are expected to create over 13,800 jobs.
The Trade department said that the electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply sector drew 96.3 percent of the BoI’s total approved investments. Among these was a P297-billion investment by Ahunan Power Inc. in Calabarzon.
In May, the BoI also approved Solar Solutions Inc.’s P150-billion proposal to expand solar capacity in Calabarzon and BlueWave Energy’s plan to spend P120 billion on offshore wind energy development in Central Luzon.
Calabarzon accounted for P592 billion of the approved investments, 262 percent higher compared to last year.
Germany’s Energy Global International, meanwhile, invested P85 billion in a new manufacturing facility in Calabarzon while French firm Hydropower Ventures secured approval for a P75-billion hydropower investment in Northern Mindanao.
“The investment pattern also reflects notable international confidence, particularly from Switzerland and the Netherlands,” the Trade department said.
Switzerland was the leading foreign investor with Jet Stream Windkraft Corp. and Triconti Southwind Corp. each looking to invest approximately P115 billion in wind energy projects.
Substantial investment growth in other sectors such as agriculture, forestry, fishing and real estate also demonstrated “economic diversity and vibrancy across various sectors,” the department said.
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