Investment pledges approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) rose by 16.7 percent to P54.62 billion in January to March this year, from P46.77 billion recorded a year ago, according to an official of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
In a media briefing held on Friday, Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Adrian S. Cristobal said the government approved a total of 59 projects in the first quarter.
Cristobal said big-ticket projects in the manufacturing and power sectors propped up investment pledges during the period. For one, the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning sector attracted P13.76 billion in investments in the first quarter, or 31 percent higher than the P10.5 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The biggest growth, however, was seen in the local manufacturing sector, which hauled in P12.9 billion in investment commitments during the period, or a fivefold increase from P2.08 billion posted in the first quarter of 2014.
Other sectors that registered substantial investments were the transportation and storage sector, with P10.48 billion; and the real-estate activities sector, which garnered P9.09 billion in investment pledges.
Of the P54.62 billion in investment commitments, the bulk—or P52.25 billion—came from domestic sources, while foreign sources contributed the remaining P2.38 billion. Investment pledges from foreign investors were lower by almost half in the first quarter.
In January alone, figures from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed that actual foreign direct investments (FDI) fell by 71 percent to $263 million, from $905 million recorded in the same month last year.
FDI are investments placed by nonresidents into the country in search for long-term prospects, making them less volatile and more coveted than foreign portfolio investments.
The largest decline in inflows was seen in the equity placements of foreign investors to the country, which declined by 87.5 percent to $25 million this year from the $201 million seen in the previous year.
The BSP said equity-capital placements during the period originated mainly from the United States, Germany, Singapore, the Netherlands and Japan.
These were largely channeled to wholesale and retail trade; manufacturing; real estate; financial and insurance; and professional, scientific and technical activities, including those in landscape and architectural services.
The BOI said the 59 projects it approved in the first quarter would create 18,174 jobs.
Meanwhile, Cristobal said the BOI has approved the general policies and specific guidelines of the 2014-2016 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) and that the IPP is putting more emphasis on the impact of investments on the regional level.
He said the government has started to consider regional needs and that the government is considering a “geographical application” for the IPP.
The eight preferred activities in 2014-2016 IPP are manufacturing, agribusiness and fishery, services, economic and low-cost housing, hospitals, energy, public infrastructure and logistics, and public-private partnership projects.
The new subsectors and sectors are aerospace parts and components, chemicals, virgin paper pulp, copper wires and copper wire rod, tool and dye, modernization of sugar mills, integrated circuit design, maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft, energy ancillary services, and energy-efficiency projects.
By Catherine N. Pillas & Bianca Cuaresma