BOI, PEZA investments hit P26.8B in Jan-Feb

Investments in the country surged by 125 percent during the first two months of the year as combined inflows approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reached P26.8 billion.

In the same period last year, investments amounted to P11.9 billion.

PEZA approved 80 projects amounting to almost P20 billion while the BOI for its part gave its consent to 49 projects worth P6.81 billion.

Trade and Industry Secretary Peter B. Favila said the new investments for the two-month period will generate 25,131 new jobs. 

"Investors are seeing the improving business climate in the country which is the result of competitive measures being put in place by the government and private sectors," Favila said.

Foreign investors remain the major source of investments during the period with committed investments totaling P15.6 billion. Most investments were contributed by the country’s traditional investors such as the Japanese and Americans which poured in P6.5 billion and P3.3 billion worth of investments, respectively. 

Local investors, on the other hand, contributed P11 billion. 

The manufacturing sector accounted for the bulk of total investments with P14.3 billion followed by the information technology services with P4.6 billion. The real estate sector, meanwhile, got P3.6 billion worth of investments.

Investments in the manufacturing sector surged by 164 percent due to the P564-million capital infusion of Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. makers of caustic soda, hydrochloric acid and liquid. The P453.3-million investment of Pilipinas Kyohritsu producer of automatic wiring harness likewise boosted the investment in the sector.

Meanwhile, the IT services saw a 767-percent growth when compared to the same period the previous year. Investments in IT services for January to February reached P4.58 billion from P527.5 million.

The largest investor in the IT services industry was Philweb Corp., an application service provider, which infused P147.8 million. Focusmedia Audiovisuals invested P126.7 million and Philippine Autocomponents poured in P80 million.

"Our outbound missions are able to lure the investment allocation of foreign firms for their offshore operations," Favila said. "The investments in IT are the result of our  IT missions to the US and Europe.  We will continue to focus on this productive investment promotion scheme for this year," he added. 

Also for this sector, Favila said the new investments will translate to 16,047 jobs, 76 percent more than the 9,125 jobs created for the same period last year. 

Favila said the influx of IT investments has spurred the development in the real estate sector. He explained that this is consistent with the growing demand for office spaces by business process outsourcing (BPO) and call center companies as the country aims to be the regional BPO hub in Asia.