MANILA, Philippines — Committed investments approved in the first quarter surged by 53.2 percent as bullish local investors more than offset the shrinking pledges from their foreign counterparts and a continued slump in ecozone projects.
Combined figures from the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) – the country’s two biggest investment promotion agencies – showed investments in the first three months reached P182.83 billion, higher than the P119.31 billion recorded in the same period in 2017.
Filipino investors made up the bulk or 92.5 percent of the total amount at P169.08 billion, a 73.2 percent increase from last year.
The remaining 7.5 percent of the approved investments were accounted for by foreign investors, which fell 36.5 percent to P13.75 billion.
Japan was the biggest source country of the BOI-PEZA foreign investments, accounting for 57.2 percent of the total at P7.86 billion.
The UK came in next with P1.54 billion, followed by the Netherlands with P88 million, Singapore with P56 million and the US with P45 million.
BOI-approved investments comprised 83.2 percent of total projects, while PEZA approvals accounted for 16.8 percent.
Taken separately, BOI recorded a 123.8 percent jump in approvals to P152.12 billion from P67.97 billion in the first quarter of 2017.
On the other hand, PEZA’s approved investments plunged 40.2 percent to P30.72 billion in the January to March period from P51.34 billion in the same period last year.
PEZA has attributed the slide to uncertainties brought about by the government’s tax reform package, coupled with the prolonged delays in the proclamation of new economic zones.
The proposed second tax reform package, in particular, seeks to rationalize the country’s fiscal incentives.
No data for the first quarter was immediately available, but PEZA manager for promotion and public relations Elmer San Pascual earlier said investments in manufacturing, IT-BPO, and even economic zone development have been on the decline.
“Business would not go with a lot of uncertainties and that is what is being created by TRAIN 1 and TRAIN 2, especially TRAIN 2. They do not realize how big its effects are on us,” San Pascual said in an interview last month.
In terms of projects, meanwhile, the biggest share of the combined BOI-PEZA approved pledges was committed to electricity, gas, steam, and airconditioning supply at P104.35 billion.
Real estate activities came in second with P27.24 billion, followed by manufacturing with P23.85 billion, water supply, sewerage, waste management with P13.87 billion, and transportation and storage with P7.01 billion.