P2T in pipeline; govt eyes threshold
At least P2 trillion strategic investments, to be poured into 90 projects, will enter the country through the Board of Investments’ (BOI) green lane processing.
Ernesto Delos Reyes, director of the Board of Investments (BOI) Investments Assistance Center, said the government plans to put a threshold on the project cost of investments that can go through green lane processing “to enable us to focus on these projects.”
Delos Reyes told reporters on the sidelines of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines — AboitizPower Renewable Energy Forum on Friday at the moment,the One-Stop Action Center for Strategic Investments (OSACSI) does not have enough manpower to look after all the strategic investments.
He, however, assured OSACSI will give assistance to all investments regardless of amount.
Right now, OSACSI follows the criteria set under Executive Order 18 in activities under the 2022 Strategic Investments Priority Plan that include clean energy sources, green metals, electronics, electric vehicles, pharmaceuticals among others.
For renewable energy (RE), which dominate projects for green lane, Delos Reyes hinted the possibility of following the threshold set by Executive Order 13 which defines energy projects with national significance as having capital investments of at least P3.5 billion.
Delos Reyes said RE accounts for bulk of the pipeline of projects.
He said the BOI has certified a total of 158 projects worth P4.3 trillion for green lane processing.
He said of these , 128 are RE projects with a total project cost of P3.9 trillion.
The next biggest sector approved for green lane is digital infrastructure with six projects valued at P346 billion.
While there are only two projects in manufacturing, these are worth P29.6 billion.
For food security, the BOI certified 22 projects costing P13 billion.
Delos Reyes said a project in the pipeline is a manufacturing project for fiber cement by a Thai investor worth P2 billion.
“This is a pioneering investment since it involves import substitution,” he said.
He said the BOI is aggressively promoting manufacturing but acknowledges it needs to be backed by affordable energy costs.
He noted while the direct job generation of RE project is small, the multiplier effect to other industries like manufacturing is big, about five activities to one RE.
Delos Reyes said ithin the first year of Green Lane operations, the BOI has assisted in the issuance of pivotal policies in RE investments.
These include the guidelines for programmatic environment clearance certificate (ECC) of floating solar projects in Laguna Lake, guidelines for ECC for offshore wind power projects, legal framework on the use of irrigation facilities for hydropower projects, Office of the Government Corporate Counsel decision on possessory rights for projects in the Laguna Lake Development Authority.