The Board of Investments upgraded its 2023 investment registration target to P1.5 trillion, or 50 percent higher than the original forecast of P1 trillion.
“Given the strong investment approvals for January, as well as the robust pipeline of investment leads, including those generated through presidential visits, I have increased the 2023 investment registration target of BOI from P1 trillion to P1.5 trillion,” Trade Secretary and BOI chairman Alfredo Pascual said Thursday.
The BOI said it received new applications for investment registration totaling P414 billion as of Feb. 9, 2023, or 142.9 percent higher than P170.5 billion generated in the same period in 2022.
The Department of Trade and Industry expects the entry of P344-billion investment leads generated during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s state visits through combined efforts of the country’s investment promotion agencies.
Data showed that of the total investment pledges as of Feb. 9, foreign investment approvals amounted to P163 billion, representing a 65.436-percent increase from P249 million in the same period in 2022. It accounted for nearly 40 percent of the total, with domestic investment approvals representing the balance of P251.3 billion, also up 47.6 percent from P170.3 billion in 2022.
The BOI said the bulk of foreign capital came from Germany with P157 billion, followed by the Netherlands with P2.7 billion, Japan with P524 million, the US with P509 million and the UK with P194 million.
“With investment prospects being very positive, and as we continue to receive serious interest from global investors, we are definitely on track to meeting our annual investment target of P1 trillion. We are not even through with the second month of the year, and we already have secured nearly half of our full-year target for investment approvals,” Pascual said.
The BOI said that in terms of regional dispersion, Western Visayas generated the highest investment pledges with P293.3 billion, followed by CALABARZON with P111.7 billion. Eastern Visayas contributed P3.5 billion; Central Luzon, P3 billion and the National Capital Region, P783 million.
The renewable energy/power sector remained the dominant sector, as it attracted P398.7 billion in investments, up 138 percent from P167.9 billion in 2022.
Manufacturing is also on an upswing with P12.3 billion in approvals, up 13,982 percent from P87 million in 2022. Administrative services attracted P1.3 billion; agriculture, P901 million; and transportation, P847 million.
Among the top projects approved in January is German-owned Wpd Philippines Inc.’s P392-billion offshore wind farms in Cavite, Negros Occidental and Guimaras, which would provide greener power solutions to local communities and businesses.
“The increase in investments proves that the government’s promotional visits abroad led by no less than the president himself, are working as a growing number of investors from around the globe—from Southeast Asia, the US, Belgium, China and most recently Japan—have shown strong interest in putting in more investments into the country,” Pascual said.