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COMBINED
new investments approved by the Board of Investments (BOI)
and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) went
up by 28.67 percent to P349.08 billion in 2007, thanks
to a late surge in project registrations in the last two
months of the year.
The new
investments cover 766 projects that are expected to
generate 144,714 direct jobs.
In 2006,
the BOI and Peza—the country’s top investment promotions
agencies—approved a P271.29 billion worth of investments
representing 698 projects with the potential to create
130,376 employment.
At the
end of October 2007, fresh investments approved by the
BOI and Peza are still down by 1 percent, putting in
peril the government’s target of improving the 2006
investment haul by 12 percent.
Big-ticket projects especially in the infrastructure
sector, however, started to pour in November and
December that allowed the government to exceed the
P304-billion 2007 target by a mile.
The top
investment sectors are power and water supply (P94.30
billion), manufacturing (P90.25 billion), real-estate
activities involving mass housing (P64.69 billion),
infrastructure and industrial service facilities (P55.61
billion) and IT services (P17.81 billion).
The
power and water supply sector grew by 2,616 percent from
P3.47 billion, manufacturing grew by 16.58 percent from
P77.41 billion, mass housing grew by 109.8 percent from
P30.83 billion, infrastructure and industrial services
declined by 41.99 percent from P95.87 billion and the IT
services grew by 45.16 percent from P12.27 billion in
2006.
The top
10 investments in 2007 include the Masinloc power plant
of Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. (P41.81 billion),
Magat hydroelectric power project of SN Aboitiz Power,
Inc. (P27.93 billion), advance semiconductor components
project of an American company (P20.00 billion), power
generating plant of Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc.
(P19.32 billion), computer components project of a
Japanese company (P13.51 billion), hotel project of KHI
Manila Property, Inc. (P9.13 billion), rehabilitation,
construction, expansion, operation and maintenance of
the South Luzon Expressway project of South Luzon
Tollway Corp. (P8.34 billion), Pantabangan-Masiway
hydropower project of First Gen Hydro Power Corp. (P7.72
billion), power generation project of DMCI Power Corp.
(P7.36 billion), and gold and silver ore processing
project of Philippine Gold Processing & Refining Corp.
(P6.76 billion).
Foreign
investors accounted for 54 percent of total investments
of P189.72 billion.
The top
foreign investors are the Singaporeans (P44.12 billion),
Japanese (P38.37 billion), Americans (P36.05 billion)
and Dutch (P14.51 billion). Filipino firms committed
P159.36 billion.
Trade
Undersecretary and BOI managing head Elmer C. Hernandez
noted that significant growth rates are manifested in
the power and water supply, mass housing, IT services
and manufacturing sectors.
“There
is a renewed interest to invest in the power sector and
this will ensure that the growing power requirements of
the country in the immediate future are addressed,” he
said.
More
importantly, Hernandez said the investments in power are
in the renewable and environmentally clean sector.
“The
department is very pleased that the BOI and Peza
exceeded by 15 percent our 2007 investment target of
P304 billion by P45 billion. This surge in investments
is a manifest reflection of the investors’ confidence as
brought about by the much-improved economic condition of
the country and the enhanced business environment,”
Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila said. |
