The Board of Investments (BOI) expressed confidence about the prospects of investments in 2022 after registrations tanked to their lowest level in five years in 2021.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, BOI managing head, said investment registrations could go back to the P1-trillion mark, largely to be pushed by foreign infusions.
In a report, the BOI said it approved P655 billion investments in 2021, down 36 percent from P1.02 trillion in 2020 and off by 27 percent from the downscaled target for the year of P905 billion.
The agency set an internal target of P1.25 trillion for 2021 and changed it to P750 billion but eventually adopted the P905-billion goal set by the Program Expenditure Classification.
“Buoyed by 2021 FDI (foreign direct investment) results as well as the healthy pipeline of strong investment leads–both foreign and domestic, and with the reforms that we are anticipating to still be passed in the next months, we are confident of hitting P1 trillion in BOI -approved investments this year,” Lopez said in a statement.
A major telecommunication project valued at P155 billion is also coming up and awaiting the approval of the Fiscal Incentives Review Board, according to Ceferino Rodolfo, BOI managing head.
Sources said the project is being undertaken by Converge ICT Solutions.
Lopez cited the FDI inflows reported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas which doubled year-on-year in October 2021 to $855 million from the $430 million net inflows in the same period in the preceding year. FDI net inflows for the first 10 months of 2021 increased 48 percent to $8.1 billion from $5.5 billion in the same period in 2020.
The BOI recorded a 218 percent increase in foreign investments to P151.8 billion from P47.7 billion in 2020.
Domestic investments which contributed the bulk of the approvals decreased 48 percent to P503.6 billion last year from P970 billion the previous yer.
There were 235 projects registered in 2021 which once operational will generate 46,836 jobs.
Some of the significant approved projects in 2021 include Makati City Subway project worth P81.1 billion and Calatagan Cement Plant worth P25 billion.
Rodolfo said some projects in the pipeline are a new domestic shipping operator; new operator of electric vehicle charging stations; three new operators of telecommunications infrastructure; a new producer of animal feeds; and a cement manufacturer.
He said shifting to greener and sustainable projects, renewable energy projects such as hydro and solar plants are a priority of the BOI.
He added upcoming projects where investments were being generated are also levelling up, such as in hyperscalers in telecommunications, e-vehicles, COVID medicines, among others.
Last year also marked the implementation of Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Law, a landmark legislation and a valuable tool in incentivizing the investors.
