PHP 2 trillion worth of investment leads as of January — BoI

The Board of Investments (BoI) has around PHP 2 trillion worth of investment leads, mostly in renewable energy, as of January, an official said.

Ma. Corazon Halili-Dichosa, executive director of BoI’s Industry Development Services, said these investment leads comprise 331 projects, which are mostly in the renewable energy sector.

“As of January of this year, we actually have in our pipeline around PHP 2-trillion investments that are accounted for by 331 projects,” she told reporters last week.

Ms. Halili-Dichosa said these big-ticket renewable energy projects include solar power projects and both offshore and onshore wind projects.

Some of the investment leads are in the manufacturing and data center industries, she added.

Renewable energy, information and technology, and manufacturing were among the top five performing sectors in terms of approved investments last year, accounting for over P1.1 trillion of the total approved investments.

“They are in different stages of engaging with us, but they have already expressed their interest. It is a matter really of getting final approval from their boards. But they have actually contacted us, and we have actually talked to them,” Ms. Halili-Dichosa said.

She said these investment leads are from a mix of foreign and local companies.

“For some of them, we only know the estimated project costs, which are sometimes with or without employment figures. But as to the structure of the company that will eventually apply to us, we still don’t know that,” she added.

However, Ms. Halili-Dichosa said that the investments may not register with the BoI. This is similar to how some of the projects it endorses for the green lane treatment are registered with other investment promotion agencies. 

“The main objective is to get them to invest in the Philippines,” she added.

In February, the BoI announced that it had endorsed PHP 244 billion worth of renewable energy projects for green lanes, comprising seven projects.

The endorsed projects include the 1.2-gigawatt joint wind power projects of Triconti Windkraft and Sea Wind Holdings AG worth PHP 221.6 billion.

Executive Order No. 18, approved by Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. last year, established green lanes, which are meant to expedite approvals for strategic investments.

Last year, the BoI saw a 73% increase in total approved investments to PHP 1.26 trillion, 61% of which are from foreigners. The top country sources last year were Germany (PHP 393.28 billion), the Netherlands (PHP 333.61 billion), and Singapore (PHP 21.45 billion). — Justine Irish D. Tabile