Investment commitments rise 20% to P204 billion in H1

MANILA, Philippines – Investment commitments for the first half of the year amounted to P204.175 billion, a double-digit growth of 20 percent from a year ago, the Board of Investments (BOI) reported yesterday.

In an interview with reporters, BOI managing head Cristino L. Panlilio said they are bullish. “The whole business atmosphere is bullish, just look at the construction.”

At the same time, Panlilio urged businessmen to invest now given all the positive developments in the country. “I advise them (investors) to not get left behind. Rather than seeing the glass half empty look at it as half full because when they look back two years from now they will get left behind if they don’t invest.”

In a separate interview, BOI Executive Director Lucita P. Reyes said that investment commitments from January to June this year was at P204.175 billion or 20 percent better than the P169.757 billion recorded during the same period in 2010.

Employment generated for the first six months of the year grew by 128 percent to 31,899 from the 14,021 jobs a year ago. The number of projects likewise ballooned to 148 projects from the 90 recorded January to June 2010.

However, there was a sharp decline in the number of investment approvals on a year-on-year basis. June 2011 is only one-tenth of the June 2010 approvals or from P126.144 billion last year to P12.991 billion this year.

Reyes explained that this is because the bulk of the June 2010 investments are for the independent power producers which were already delisted by the BOI in the Investment Priorities Plan (IPP). This means that IPPA projects will no longer enjoy incentives from the BOI. The three big investment projects for June 2010 were by the San Miguel Energy Corp., the San Roque multi purpose powerplant and the hydro facility of the Ilihan National Gas.

Reyes said that without the IPPA, the June 2011 will be higher than the June 2010 because the IPPAs amount to P116.858 billion.

For June 2011 alone, Reyes said that employment was at 7,562. This is higher than the 5,556 jobs created June 2010.

For June the big ticket investor is Suzuki Philippines which will infuse P1.194 billion for its new manufacturing facility for motorcycles, parts and components. The new facility will be located in Canlubang. Once operational, Suzuki will shut down their Pasig manufacturing plant. The Pasig facility will now be a sales office, showroom and service center.

The Canlubang plant is capable of producing 175,200 units of motorcycle and 8,460 pieces of parts and components. –Ma. Elisa P. Osorio (The Philippine Star)