INVESTMENT commitments approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) in the first five months of the year increased by 140.49 percent to P204.77 billion compared with the same period last year.

These fresh investments cover 360 projects and will generate direct employment for 90,452 Filipinos once they are fully operational.

By sector, manufacturing attracted the most with P78.17 billion, followed by electricity, gas and water (P61.01 billion); real estate, renting and business activities (P28.45 billion); infrastructure/industrial service (P11.14 billion), and transport, storage and communication (P7.53 billion).

Committed investments in the manufacturing sector grew by 79 percent from P43.56 billion, while electricity, gas and water grew by 374 percent from P12.88 billion; real estate, renting and business activities grew by 54 percent from P18.39 billion; and transport, storage and communication grew by 638 percent from P1.02 billion for the period.

Local businessmen are still the main drivers in the investment growth as they accounted for 66 percent of the total approved fresh investment commitments for the period.

Foreign investors, meanwhile, accounted for P69.30 billion of the total, with the top three foreign investors by nationalities being the Koreans with P21.24 billion, British with P20.66 billion and Americans with P9.05 billion.

Among the big projects committed are the naphtha cracker of JG Summit Olefins Corp. worth P34.38 billion; the power-generation projects of Global Business Power Corp. (two  projects each worth P22.14 billion and P17.79 billion); Kepco SPC Power Corp. (P19.95 billion); the P6.15-billion coal mining expansion project of Semirara Mining Corp.; the refleeting project of Cebu Air Inc. (P5.52 billion); and two infrastructure port projects (Rhizhao Development Corp. worth P4.50 billion and International Container Terminal Services Inc. worth P4.46 billion).

Most of the big-ticket projects in the manufacturing and IT services sectors are to be located in the export-processing zones and IT parks and buildings of Peza.

Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Elmer  Hernandez said the country would benefit immensely from the significant rise in the entry of fresh capital in the manufacturing sector since this is the main employment and export generator.

Hernandez said another noticeable feature of the first five months performance is the renewed interest to invest in the power sector, particularly in renewable energy, “and this will ensure the growing power requirements of the country in the immediate future are addressed.”

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INVESTMENT commitments approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) in the first five months of the year increased by 140.49 percent to P204.77 billion compared with the same period last year.

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