Government expects another 2-digit hike in investments

MANILA, Philippines – The government is expecting another double digit growth in investments next year after projecting this year’s investments to grow by more than 34 percent.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Philippine Retailers Awards Night, Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said that they expect investments to grow by a double digit growth rate next year.

“We are more bullish in investments next year. Investments should grow by double digits especially since infrastructure investments will start to kick in next year,” Domingo said.

Domingo has already said that they will exceed their target this year as investments will hit more than P400 billion. Investments contracted in 2009 as a result of the global financial crisis but Domingo said that the economy has more than rebounded.

Aside from investments in infrastructure coming from the Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, Domingo said that the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is expected to contribute further to the economy next year. The BPO sector is expected to grow by 20 percent next year.

Other sources of investments will be tourism and mining. On the automotive industry, Domingo said that “there will be no eye popping investments.”

Earlier, Domingo said that the Philippines will overshoot its 2010 investment target of P345 billion the country is expected to get over P400 billion worth of investments. “The investors are upbeat,” Domingo said.

At the same time, Domingo disclosed that they will be changing their tactic from focusing on outbound missions to now zeroing in on inbound missions in order to attract more investors.

“The Philippines is not in the radar of foreign businessmen. We have to raise consciousness in order for them to visit out country,” Domingo said.

For the Board of Investments (BOI) alone, investments for the entire year will reach P300 billion, exceeding the P287- billion target it set.

For the first 10 months of the year, investments recorded by the agency already stood at P237 billion. “We are projecting that we will overshoot our fighting target based on the checklist,” BOI Executive Director Lucita P. Reyes said.

The revised yearend target of BOI was P287.27 billion. This was the investments recorded in 2008. “We will not only match the 2008 level but we will surpass it,” Reyes said. –Ma. Elisa P. Osorio (The Philippine Star)