Investment commitments surge past full-year target

PRIVATE SECTOR investments committed to the Board of Investments (BoI) have already exceeded the full-year target just six months into 2010, a ranking official said.

The January to June tally, BoI managing head Elmer C. Hernandez told reporters last Friday, stood at P169.68 billion, up roughly fourfold from the P40.63 a year earlier. It surpassed the 2010 goal of a 10% increase in pledges to P136.592 billion.

New 2010 targets were not yet provided as Mr. Hernandez said he would be stepping down from his post on June 30. BoI executive director Efren V. Leano will take the helm in the interim.

The 87 projects that make up the January to June figure are expected to generate 13,923 jobs once they come on stream, Mr. Hernandez said.

He clarified that the ventures — already approved by the BoI managing committee — still had to be confirmed by the agency’s board today. The bulk are for power projects, he added, “which is good because it addresses our power requirements”.

“And this forbodes more good things to come. It’s a good beginning to attain the objectives of the Philippine Investment Promotions Plan (PIPP)” Mr. Hernandez said, referring to a marketing roadmap released on Wednesday.

The BoI and other state agencies committed in the PIPP to net P345.40 billion worth of projects this year and hit a total of P2.405 trillion by 2014. — Jessica Anne D. Hermosa, Businessworld