MANILA – Investments approved by the Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) saw a double-digit increase to register an all-time high of P907.2 billion this year, mostly driven by investments from China, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported.
In an emailed statement, the DTI said the latest figure is 47.1 percent higher than the previous record high of P616.8 billion in 2017, and surpassing the target of P617 billion.
“This will result in industrial empowerment, particularly with the upstream, heavy industrial projects that will allow us to expand our capability to manufacture finished goods currently not produced in the country,” said Trade Secretary and BOI chairman Ramon Lopez.
Most or 86 percent of the total figure of the approved investments were for projects outside Metro Manila, led by Region X or Northern Mindanao with P228.8 billion.
This was followed by Region IV or CALABARZON with P185 billion, Region III or Central Luzon with P168.3 billion, and the National Capital Region (NCR) with P123.6 billion.
Other regions were Central Visayas with P61 billion, CARAGA with P58.2 billion, and Davao region with P18.8 billion.
Most of the investments came from China whose investments surged by 8,364 percent to P48.7 billion in 2018 from P575.8 million in 2017.
Other top countries are the British Virgin Islands (P15.6 billion), Singapore (P13.6 billion), Indonesia (P7.5 billion), Japan (P4.2 billion), and Malaysia (P2.9 billion).
With this, BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said the government will aim for the P1-trillion mark in 2019.
“Given the epic surge in investments for 2018, it is but inevitable to aim for another historic milestone—the trillion mark next year,” he said.
“We are confident of hitting yet another growth in investment registrations next year with the impending entry of big-ticket projects as concrete fruits of the Administration’s investment roadshows,” he elaborated. (GMA News)
