MANILA, Philippines – Investments approved by the country's four major investment agencies the Board of Investments (BOI), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Clark Development Corp. (CDC) - went up 39 percent in the first semester from a year ago, showing the increasing interest of investors here amid an improving business environment.

In a statement yesterday, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said total approved investments of the four agencies reached P300.91 billion in the first-half compared to the P216.19 billion in the same period last year.

Among all the agencies, the BOI posted the highest investment commitments worth P201.9 billion for the first six months of the year, 22 percent higher year-on-year.

Approved investments in the PEZA's economic zones amounted to P83.69 billion as of end-June, posting a whopping 92-percent growth from the comparable period a year ago.

Most of the investments approved by the BOI and PEZA came from local investors which reached P193.68 billion, 14 percent higher than the P170.63 billion last year.

Foreign investors meanwhile, committed P91.91 billion in the two investment agencies in the first semester, which jumped 139 percent against the P38.49 billion last year.

The top five sources of foreign investment commitments on the BOI and PEZA approval list were the U.S. with P43.64 billion, followed by British Virgin Islands with P20.62 billion, Japan with P9.34 billion, Netherlands with P5.99 billion and Australia which poured in P2.19 billion.

Approved investments of the SBMA amounted to P13.95 billion as of end-June, posting a remarkable 440 percent increase from last year.

CDC, meanwhile reported that its approved investments reached P1.37 billion in the first semester, down 73 percent from last year as a result of repricing of lease rates and re-evaluation of the optimal use of remaining Clark areas.

The DTI said once the projects of the approved investments become operational, some 77,892 jobs are expected to be created, representing a 17 percent increase from 66,416 jobs committed during the same period last year.

DTI Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal, Jr. said in a press conference yesterday the increase in approved investments shows that "investor confidence is high."

This, as the government is working to address issues affecting the business sector such as corruption, inadequate infrastructure and overall business environment.

DTI Undersecretary Ponciano Manalo said in the same event that many foreign investors are interested in placing funds in the Philippines as the department recorded 360 companies involved in in-bound missions here in the first semester.

"This (360 companies) is 71 percent of the total achieved last year. This means we are way ahead," he said.

Even as the country is seeing increasing interest from foreign companies to invest here, he said the government still wants to encourage more firms to come here.

"We will be doing a series of outbound missions and roadshows," he said noting that he will be visiting the United Kingdom, France and Germany to encourage firms there to invest in business processing management, manufacturing as well as the agricultural sectors here.

Manalo said PEZA director general Lilia De Lima will also be visiting Nordic countries as part of efforts to attract more firms to invest here.

Manalo also said the DTI will continue investment promotion efforts in countries that have existing investments here such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, U.S. and those in the Middle East.

"We are looking at Brazil, Russia and Turkey where there are opportunities for trade and investments for the Philippines," he added.

De Lima said it is important to get foreign companies to visit the country to see what we can offer as many companies overseas still see the Philippines as backward and unsafe.

"Our problem is really how to destroy the strong image (of the Philippines)," she said.

By Louella D. Desiderio (The Philippine Star)

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