National polls to dampen investment inflows – DTI

THE upcoming national elections may put potential investors on a “wait-and-see” stance, Trade Secretary Peter Favila warned. “[The influx of investments] this year will depend on the outcome of the elections—who is the next president and the credibility of the polls,” he told reporters Friday night.

While investors may temporarily hold back and await the poll results, they would likely conduct preliminary work, and may finally decide on infusing investment pledges soon after the elections, the trade chief said.

He refused to give out the department’s inward investment target for 2010, even as agency has yet to release last year’s total commitments registered with the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

PEZA had reported that investment pledges in ecozones last year amounted to P175.365 billion, up 13.3 percent year-on-year.

PEZA had also said it targets a 15-percent growth in investments this year.

Meanwhile, the BOI had said it would slightly miss its 2009 investments target of P288.35 billion, which is the same amount garnered in 2008.

The combined investment pledges with the two incentives-giving reached P443.23 billion in 2008. –BEN ARNOLD O. DE VERA, Manila Times