Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments managing head Ceferino Rodolfo (Screengrab from the event)
MANILA – After hitting record-high investment approvals in 2019, the Board of Investments (BOI) is optimistic about recording the second-highest investment approvals this year in the agency’s history despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
At the launch of the Make It Happen in the Philippines international marketing campaign on Tuesday, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said the agency has approved PHP826 billion worth of investment projects from January to October this year.
Rodolfo said the investment promotions agency remains on track to reach the PHP1-trillion mark on investment approvals this year.
“The BOI, for one, remains optimistic of beating to reach our PHP1-trillion target in project approvals for 2020,” he said. “Though this will be slightly lower than the project approvals for 2019, we are still on course for the second-highest level in our agency’s history despite the pandemic.”
Investment pledges with the BOI last year reached PHP1.14 trillion, a 25-percent increase from 2018 figures.
On the sidelines of the event, Trade Secretary and BOI chairman Ramon Lopez told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that the department would approve more investments before the year ends.
“I hope we can even surpass last year’s approvals,” Lopez said.
He noted that the department is pursuing investment leads that would sustain the growth of foreign investments in the country.
“There are 90 notable investment leads with high probability of completion amounting to USD24.1 billion and to generate 134,000 jobs,” Lopez said in the same event.
These companies with a high probability of investing here are from the United States, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Europe, he said.
Aside from the 90 firms, the DTI is also pursuing 73 target investment leads from the US, Malaysia, Japan, China, Taiwan, and Europe.
The Make It Happen in the Philippines campaign is a unified, countrywide, and multi-sector investment promotion of the country to attract foreign firms to invest in five priority areas –aerospace, automotive, electronics, information technology and business process management, and copper. (PNA)
