INVESTMENT promotion agencies have approved P2.73 trillion worth of investment pledges in the first two years of the Marcos government, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said last week.
The Board of Investments (BoI) and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) approved 1,090 projects with a combined value of P2.73 trillion from July 2022 to May 2024, Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual told a news briefing on Friday.
The BoI approved 668 projects worth P2.4 trillion, while PEZA greenlighted 432 investment pledges worth P331 billion.
About 90% of the projects approved by the BoI were in renewable energy, while almost half of the PEZA-approved projects were in export manufacturing, Trade Undersecretary and BoI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo told the same briefing.
Mr. Pascual said the BoI saw an increase in renewable energy (RE) projects after the government allowed full foreign ownership in the sector starting in November 2022. Foreign ownership in RE projects used to be limited to 40%.
For the first half, BoI approved P950 billion of investment pledges, up 36.1% from a year earlier, while PEZA approved P45.48 billion worth of projects, down 43.6% year on year.
This year, the BoI expects investment approvals to hit P1.25 trillion to P1.6 trillion, while PEZA estimates are from P200 billion to P250 billion.
Mr. Pascual said $18.86 billion (P1.1 trillion) worth of investment pledges have been initiated from the deals secured during President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s overseas trips.
Of the 73 projects, 20 projects worth $1.26 billion are under category 6, meaning they are operating and are registered with an investment promotion agency. These are valued at $1.26 billion.
Investments in category 5, covering 23 projects that have registered with investment promotion agencies but are not yet operating, were estimated at $1.6 billion.
The 30 projects under category 4, which are in the process of registering, are worth $16 billion.
The 73 projects form part of the $60.9 billion worth of investment leads gathered during the President’s trips. The leads cover 210 projects and exclude 30 public-private partnerships.
Mr. Pascual said another potential indication of investment approvals are the projects endorsed for the green lane, which spans sectors such as RE, digital infrastructure, food security and manufacturing.
“For green lanes, we have already certified 102 projects worth P3 trillion,” he added.
Mr. Rodolfo said some of the projects endorsed to the BoI’s One-Stop Action Center for Strategic Investments had not been registered.
“For green lanes, not all of the projects will register with BoI, but mostly we foresee them to register with BoI due to the nature of the projects,” he added.
The government through Executive Order No. 18 established the “green lane” in all government agencies to speed up the approval and registration process for priority or strategic investments.
Aside from investments, the DTI said free trade agreements and cooperation were reached last year.
These include the Philippines-Korea free trade deal, the start of negotiations for the Philippine-European Union and ASEAN-Canada free trade agreements and the signing of the 123 Agreement. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
