Nov. investment pledges up 97% led by renewable energy -- BoI

Posted on November 30, 2016
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Economy&title=nov.-investment-pledges-up-97%-led-by-renewable-energy----boi&id=137105

THE Board of Investments (BoI) reported that investment pledges for November hit P28.5 billion, up from P14.4 billion a year earlier, on the strength of three big-ticket projects in renewable energy and manufacturing.

Trade Secretary and BoI Chairman Ramon M. Lopez told reporters yesterday that the three projects accounted for a significant portion of the 97% growth in investment pledges for the month.

He said that the main projects involve solar and hydropower renewable energy. Pledges involving the manufacture of petrochemicals also account for about a quarter of the pledges for the month.

“The investor portfolio is a good mix,” he said in a media briefing in Makati Shangri-La Manila.

“There are two pioneer projects of JG Summit in Petrochemicals amounting to about P7 billion, and then renewable energy, for example hydropower in Ifugao, solar projects in Tarlac and Batangas, and hydropower in Lanao del Norte,” he added.

According to Executive Order No. 226, pioneer status is given to any firm engaged in the manufacture, processing, or production of goods or raw material that have never been produced here in the Philippines on a commercial scale. Firms with such status are provided with special incentives such as longer exemptions from paying income tax.

The November result helped produce a 35.5% increase in investment pledges in the first 11 months of the year, to P324.5 billion. This breaks down into 323 projects that could generate over 55,000 new jobs when they start operating.

The main projects in the year-to-date period include those of Light Rail Manila Corp. (P30.369 billion); Limay Premiere Power Corp. (P23.299 billion); GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (P16.750 billion); Energy Development Corp. (P16.750 billion); Bayog Wind Power Corp. (P14.728 billion); Cordillera Hydro Electric Power Corp. (P12.175 billion); El Elyon Power Plant Philippines, Inc.(P11.641 billion); and Alternergy Sembrano Wind Corp. (P8.526 billion).

In the first 11 months of 2016, the power sector had the biggest share of investment pledges, accounting for P150.269 billion. This is followed by pledges in the construction sector which hit P62.273 billion; real estate including the mass housing sub-sector at P48.953 billion, manufacturing at P30.409 billion; and transportation and storage at P15.389 billion.

Singapore accounted for the most investments year to date at P13.261 billion. The Netherlands came in second with P10.778 billion, followed by Japan with P6.833 billion, South Korea with P6.423 billion, and the United Kingdom with P2.349 billion.

The National Capital Region topped the list of investment destinations with P76.152 billion, while Calabarzon had P76.099 billion. -- Roy Stephen C. Canivel