German firms account for 80 percent of BOI-approved foreign investments

MANILA, Philippines — German firms have expressed strong interest in investing in the Philippines as they account for the bulk of the foreign investments approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) in the first three quarters of the year, driven by reforms in the energy sector and the openness to foreign investment.

In a Malacanang briefing yesterday, Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said foreign investments approved by the BOI from January to September amounted to P427 billion, nearly 60 percent of the P734 billion total approved investments in the three quarters of the year.

Rodolfo said projects from Germany accounted for 80 percent of the approved foreign investments.

He said many more projects are in the pipeline from both German investors, most most of which are in the renewable energy (RE) sector.

Rodolfo cited the strong interest from European investors to the President’s efforts to invite investors, citing his previous roundtable meeting with European investors in Brussels, Belgium.

“In the past, we weren’t the darling of the EU countries for some reason. But when the president said we are open for business, and they saw the policy reforms of the country, they came in,” Rodolfo said.

In a bid to attract more investments in renewable energy, the Department of Energy issued a circular last year, allowing 100 percent foreign equity in renewables.

The German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (GPCCI) earlier welcomed the move, citing it as an area of interest for German firms.

“The renewable energy sector has always been an interest for many German investors when they consider doing business in the Philippines,” GPCCI executive director Christopher Zimmer said in an earlier statement.

“Germany has a strong RE industry with a lot of know-how and experience that could contribute to the energy transition of the Philippines. We look forward to seeing the rules finalized so more companies can explore this sector’s large potential for cooperation and energy generation,”he said.

With the rising interest for RE projects in the country, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual earlier said that RE projects are seen to account for a third of the BOI’s P1.5 trillion approved investments target this year.

Apart from RE, Rodolfo cited that foreign investors have also been expressing interest in telecoms, mineral processing and high-technology manufacturing.

For mineral processing, most of the companies that have expressed interest are Chinese, South Korean and Japanese.

“No one has invested yet, but we are tracking it. We are actively engaged with private sector companies and their prospective foreign partners,” Rodolfo said. — Helen Flores