Investments

The government is offering strings of incentives to investors in the garments and textile sector who would put up their own business process outsourcing (BPO) operations.

(Editor’s note: The following is the Board of Investment’s faxed letter dated May 19 but sent on May 26. We publish it in toto and unedited but minus the barely legible “graphical representation” mentioned in paragraph 11.)

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ngPilipinas (BSP) expects the country to post net inflow of foreign portfolio investments this month, following substantial net outflows in the past months.

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is seriously considering to expand the granting of state incentives to projects outside of the Freeport zone to nearby areas in Olongapo City.

Administrator Arreza says fiscal perks could be granted to projects endorsed by the Olongapo City government The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is currently working on the implementing rules for a scheme where investments in Olongapo City can also avail of some incentives granted to registered firms at the Subic Bay Freeport.

The country’s investment promotion agencies on Friday signed an accord that will lay the foundation for the development of the 2010 to 2014 Philippine Investments Promotions Plan (PIPP) within this year.

MANILA, Philippines – Encouraged by initial signs of improvements in the US and global financial markets, business sentiment improved in the second quarter of the year although executives remained cautiously negative.

MANILA, Philippines – The global crisis has adversely affected the investing climate in the Philippines as investment approvals for the first quarter of the year decreased by 52 percent, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is promoting its Special Visa Employment Generation (SVEG) by setting up a field office in the resort island of Boracay in Aklan.

MANILA, Philippines – Portfolio investments or “hot money” registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed a net outflow of $276.1 million in April, reversing a net inflow of $32.2 million in March as investors fled the market after the government admitted overshooting its deficit target amid declining revenues.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investments (FDI) reached a mere $16 million in February this year, falling by 82 percent from last year’s $90 million, bringing the two-month total 75.2-percent lower at $29 million compared with $117 million in 2008.

FOREIGN direct investment (FDI) inflows slumped in February amid a global financial crisis, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

The World Bank said the Philippines’ two investment promotion agencies were “weak,” especially in inquiry handling and providing information to foreign companies looking to invest in the country.

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines — Texas Instruments (TI) has announced that its new assembly and test facility is now fully operational here and is “ramping production with the latest packaging technologies.”  

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said yesterday that foreign direct investments are expected to drop to only $700 million this year from $1.4 billion in 2008 as investors hold back their plans to invest in the Philippines in the midst of the global economic recession.

Malacañang approved the 2009 Investment Priorities Plan that grants fiscal incentives to investment-generating activities and to those seeking to preserve jobs amid the global economic slump.President Arroyo said the Board of Investments and other agencies drew up the 2009 IPP as a tool to generate investments and create jobs as well as preserve employment amid…

President Arroyo has approved the 2009 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), which contains a unique “contingency list” that will grant incentives to firms that save or generate jobs amid the global economic slowdown.

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Geneva (AFP) – Global foreign direct investment flows are expected to plunge even further this year, after falling some 15 per cent in 2008, the United Nations trade and investment think-tank UNCTAD said Monday.

The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading on Tuesday night the investments and incentives code of the Philippines, which consolidates the country’s scattered investments and incentives statutes.

MANILA, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s two-day visit to Egypt has yielded at least $1.2 billion worth of investments.

There is a no need to allow foreigners to own land in the country to encourage more foreign direct investment (FDI), the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) said.

MANILA, Philippines – After registering a 50-percent drop in investments in the first quarter, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority expects the second quarter to be much better, with demand for the country’s products starting to pick up.

MANILA, Philippines- I wrote recently on the perverse Philippine experience wherein poverty had risen in recent years even as the economy reportedly grew at the fastest rate achieved in 30 years. The fact is, compared to the rest of the world, Asia as a region had actually translated every percentage point of economic growth into…

MANILA, Philippines – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) officials are cautiously optimistic that foreign investments could actually be higher than expected this year, possibly pushing the country’s forex reserves higher and the balance of payments (BOP) stronger.

The Malaysian government has eased restrictions on foreign investors wanting to buy into the country’s financial sector.

MANILA, Philippines – More foreign investments entered the Subic Bay Freeport as Japanese firm Hitachi Terminal Mechatronics Philippines Corp. (HTMP) opened a new warehouse while electronics firm Koryo Subic Inc. is undergoing plant expansion.

MANILA, Philippines – The country can expect a lower level of investments from American firms this year, not only due to the global recession but also because of investor concerns that remained unresolved.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia said Wednesday it will liberalize parts of the services sector, removing ownership rules linked to a controversial affirmative action policy for majority Muslim Malays.

MANILA, Philippines – The government should seek a review of the tax perks given to investors instead of resorting to an increase in the value added tax (VAT) imposed on consumers, the Consumer and Oil Price Watch (COPW) said.