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Monday, May 12, 2003
BOI, Peza investments up 30% in first quarter
THE Board of Investments (BOI) and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) approved P11.08 billion worth of investments for the first quarter of the year, representing a 30 percent increase from the same period last year.
In a statement, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, who is also chairman of both the BOI and Peza, said the increase in investments was encouraging since it occurred at the height of the conflict in Iraq and the outbreak of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars).
“The confidence shown by investors in the Philippines is very encouraging; other than enhancing the economy, the increase in investments means an additional 18,272 job opportunities for the people once the projects are fully operational,” Roxas said.
The information technology (IT) sector remained the to job generator, accounting for 6,434 employment opportunities. Some P1.98 billion was invested in the sector, representing a growth rate of 56 percent.
The upsurge was due to the entry of Convergys Philippines SErvices Corp., E-Performax Contact Centers Corp. and RMH Teleservices Asia Pacific Inc.
The gas, electricity and water supply sector got the lion’s share of the investments, though, or 45 percent, at P4.57 billion due to the Victorias energy project in the Visayas.
Investments in manufacturing dipped 2.7 percent to P4.14 billion.
There were also investments in office, accounting and computing machinery (P874 million), wearing apparel (520 milion), non-metallic products (P280 million) and food and beverages (P233 million).
Foreign investments grew 26 percent, while local investments jumped 36 percent to P4.96 billion.
Among the major investments include a P4.56-billion renewable energy generation facility to be put up by a British group in Victorias, Negros Ociental; Genpack Corp.’s P1.04-billion tin can plant in General Santos City and a P1.3-billion plastic packaging factory of Chemphil Group in Bataan.
The Victorias project gave Western Visayas the bulk of investments at 42 percent, followed by National Capital Region (P2.35 billion), Southern Tagalog (P2.06 billion) and Southern Mindanao (P1.5 billion).
British firms led the list of foreign investors, accounting for P1.93 billion of total foreign investments, followed by Japan (P1.81 billion), United States (P1.53 billion) and South Korea (P276 million).
(May 12, 2003 issue)
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