Board of Investments misses investment target

MANILA, Philippines – The Board of Investments (BOI) reported over the weekend that investments went down this year when compared to the previous year, underscoring the possibility that the agency will be missing its investment target for the year.

“The global economic slowdown really had an impact on us,” BOI managing head Elmer C. Hernandez said.

In an interview with reporters, Hernandez said they will “slightly” miss their target of a flat investment growth. This means that investments obtained in BOI have contracted this year.

Up until the third quarter this year, investments reported by the BOI have dropped significantly. However, Hernandez said that big ticket investments came toward the end of the year.

On the upside, Hernandez said that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as a whole will meet its zero percent to five- percent investment growth.

He said that investments obtained by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is enough to push over all investments within the range of the investment target which was set at flat to five-percent growth.

For next year, Hernandez said that he is optimistic because there are leads that will be coming in next year. He said that investments will bounce back in the first semester and even as early as the first quarter.

Hernandez explained that the reason for this is the drop in the foreign direct investments (FDI). Overall FDI data released by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) showed that the country’s total FDI in the third quarter dropped by 84.4 percent to P10.4 billion compared to the same period last year.

Aside from BOI and PEZA, the FDIs come from Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

Japan was the country’s top source of FDI with 40.7 percent of the total FDI commitments during the third quarter valued at P4.2 billion. This was followed by the US with P2.1 billion and China with P2 billion. –Ma. Elisa P. Osorio (The Philippine Star)