BOI: PH investment efforts generated P2.3T so far under Marcos admin

The Board of Investments (BOI) on Saturday reported that the current administration has already produced P2.368 trillion of generated investments, a figure which includes the outcomes of the foreign trips of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

The BOI's statement comes two days after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that foreign investment pledges plunged more than 63.6% from January to March compared to the same period last year.

At a Saturday news forum, however, BOI Director Sandra Recolizado sought to show the bigger picture, presenting figures from July 2022 to April 2024.

She said that the P2.368 trillion total consisted of 157 projects, equivalent to $42 billion worth of investments, but excludes other data from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and other investment promotion agencies.

"Para po sa BOI, 'yung presidential visits are also a good way to promote the Philippines," Recolizado said.

(For the BOI, the presidential visits are also a good way to promote the Philippines.)

As for the decline in the first quarter of 2024, Recolizado said that there was a 9.59% increase in foreign direct investments (FDI) from October to November 2023.

Further, Recolizado said, the FDI increased by about 30% from November to December 2023, surged to about 90% in January, then rose by about 30% in February.

Meanwhile, she added that there was a 48% cumulative growth rate in January up to February 2024 from the same period last year.

"Para sa akin good indicator 'yung commitments na nakuha natin nari-realize. May confidence pa rin naman ang investors sa Philippines," Recolizado said.

(The commitments that have yet to be realized are good indicators that investors still have confidence in the Philippines.)

Data reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Thursday showed that approved foreign investment commitments booked by the country's investment promotion agencies reached P148.43 billion during the January to March period.

This was lower by 63.6% from P408.22 billion in foreign investment pledges secured in the same period in 2023.

The approved foreign investments during the period came from the Board of Investments (BOI), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

Eight other investment promotion agencies, meanwhile, reported no foreign investment approvals for the quarter.

Since assuming the presidency on June 30, 2022 and until end-2023, Marcos went abroad 19 times. In 2023 alone, he had 11 overseas trips. — VDV, GMA Integrated News