The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) expects to approve P1.3 trillion to P1.5 trillion worth of investments in 2024, after last year’s figure reached a record P1.26 trillion but missed the target.
It was looking at P1.5-trillion investments in 2023.
DTI Undersecretary and Board of Investment (BOI) managing director Ceferino Rodolfo said several projects were considered for approval in December, but the BOI deferred their assessment for lack of documents.
“Considering that there were actual projects in the pipeline that are being check-listed, and some are already being evaluated, however some projects are missing documentary and transparency requirements,” he said.
The projects pending approval would have added P200 billion to the combined investment for 2023.
The BOI expects more projects to come in this year, mostly from Europe, which can be credited to the European roadshows led by DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual last year and the recent visit of European Commission president Urulsa von der Leyen to the Philippines.
Prospective investments are also expected to rise after the signing of the Philippines-Korea Free Trade Agreement (DTA), Rodolfo said.
“We also expect investments from US because as discussed by the US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo during the APEC meeting, the US will be leading a strong delegation of American private companies to the Philippines the end of the first quarter of this year. We’re also expecting investments coming from China and Japan,” he said.
The BOI expects to approve about P400 billion worth of investments in the first quarter of 2024, including those that were stalled in the tail-end of 2023.
The P1.26-trillion approved investments in 2023 represented an increase of 73 percent from P729 billion recorded in 2022.
“This achievement surpasses our initial optimism when we set a target of P1.151 trillion. Reaching P1.26 trillion is a clear testament to the growing confidence investors place in fostering their businesses’ growth within the Philippines,” Pascual said.
