MANILA – Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said the investment promotion agency (IPA) remains on track to achieve its target approvals this year of PHP1.3 trillion to PHP1.5 trillion.
In a briefing in Makati City on Monday, Rodolfo said he is optimistic for the BOI to hit its target approvals this year despite the global economic headwinds.
He said the official foreign visits of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and the follow-through trips of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) officials are crucial to hit this year’s target.
“We gain new (investment) leads for the Secretary’s visit and we also listen to the challenges that they (investors) are facing,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.
Earlier, the DTI said 231 investment leads amount to USD76.6 billion (PHP4.5 trillion) as of June 2024.
Of the total, investment leads worth USD17 billion (PHP998 billion) are processing their registration with the BOI or the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
Moreover, from January to May 2024 alone, the BOI registered 14 percent higher approvals amounting to PHP640.22 billion from PHP562.9 billion in the same period in 2023.
Rodolfo said this is the highest first five months approval of BOI in its history.
Green lane
In a statement Tuesday, Rodolfo said easing doing business in the country would also help achieve the BOI’s target investment approvals.
As of June 20, BOI’s One-Stop Action Center for Strategic Investments (OSAC-SI) granted green lane certificates of endorsement to 74 projects with capital amounting to PHP2.32 trillion.
One of the recent green lane issuances by the BOI was for the PHP3.7-billion Calabanga Solar Power Project in Camarines Sur, which can produce 51.55 megawatts of clean energy.
The solar power project will be operated by Calabanga Renewable Energy (CARE), Inc.
The BOI also endorsed the PHP60 billion San Miguel Bay Wind Power Project of ACX3 Capital Holdings, Inc. for green lane treatment.
The offshore wind project will be able to produce 500 megawatts of renewable energy.
The Calabanga Solar Power Project began construction in June 2023, while the San Miguel Bay Wind Power Project construction will start in the first quarter of 2026, with commercial operation targeted by 2028. (PNA)
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