The Board of Investments (BOI) on Tuesday reported a 31-percent growth in investment pledges from January to April, with the P48.5-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) registering as the biggest project approved within the period.
BOI Managing Head and Trade Undersecretary for Industry Policy and Trade Development Ceferino S. Rodolfo announced that investment pledges had reached P153.9 billion, compared to P117 billion from the same period last year.
“From January 1 to April 25, the value of projects reached P153.9 billion. This is equivalent to generated employment of 46,018 once operational compared to 16,366 employment from the same period last year,” Rodolfo said during the call for nominations for the BOI’s Guinogulan Awards on Tuesday.
Rodolfo also indicated that two more projects may see approval within the week, with a total cost of P6.5 billion.
The 46,018 foreseen employment is a 181-percent improvement over last year’s employment count in the same four-month period.
The BOI is sticking to its P500-billion target by year-end, in line with the agency’s “BOI@50” anniversary theme this year.
According to Rodolfo, the most significant project this year is MPCALA Holdings Inc.’s P 48.5-billion Calax project.
The top sectors that boosted the January to April pledges are in infrastructure, power (renewable energy, mostly solar and biomass), manufacturing and housing.
For manufacturing, a priority of the trade department via the Manufacturing Resurgence Program contributed P14.4 billion to the total on the account of projects in chemicals, processed food, basic metals and rubber and plastic manufacturing.
The infrastructure project qualified under the public-private partnership (PPP) initiative under the Preferred Activities of the current Investment Priorities Plan include the Calax project, which is one of the listed priority projects under the PPP being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
The MHI of the Metro Pacific Group of Manuel V. Pangilinan was selected as the winning bidder to put up the CALAX project and the right to collect fees over a 35-year concession period.
The project is 44.69 kilometer, 4-lane divided expressway that will link Cavitex to SLEx. It will traverse the provinces of Cavite and Laguna and will connect the SLEx via the Mamplasan Interchange.