MANILA, Philippines —  Projects approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) jumped 38 percent in eight months ending August this year as investors remain enticed with the government’s aggressive infrastructure spending program.

The BOI said yesterday investment approvals from January to August surged to P325.8 billion from P235.4 billion in the same period last year, driven mostly by local investors.

The pledges came from a total of 299 projects which have an aggregate employment generation of 62,803.

“Investors are banking on the construction boom as a result of the ‘Build Build Build’ infrastructure program of the government, and to sustain this, they are also looking at the energy requirements to get this done,” Trade Secretary and BOI chair Ramon Lopez said.

Construction and PPP projects amounted to P127.7 billion out of total approvals, while real estate projects stood at P72.8 billion.

Investments in manufacturing, meanwhile, continued on an upward trend with P36 billion, while agriculture projects also remain robust with P2.5 billion.

For the month of August alone, the BOI said among the biggest projects approved are the P14.6-billion wind energy project of Currimao Solar Energy Corp. in Rizal, the P12.5-billion cement production of South Western Cement Corp. in Cebu and the P777-million biomass energy plant of VS Gripal Power Corp. in Nueva Ecija.

The P763.2-million low-cost housing project of 8990 Housing Development Corp. in Davao City and the P623.5-million e-commerce project of Global Fashion Group rounded out the five biggest projects.

Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said the eight-month project approvals puts well on track the agency’s target of hitting P500 billion in approved investment pledges by year-end.

“We already achieved 65 percent of our intended target for our 50th anniversary this year. We still have a month to go before the end of the third quarter and we have already two-thirds of the target figure.  I am confident we can easily top P500 billion, if not surpass them given the influx of interested investors to put their money where the action is,” Rodolfo said.

Lopez, for his part, said the P500 billion investment figure could easily exceed the target with investors exploring opportunities in energy, infrastructure and agribusiness.

Source: http://www.philstar.com/business/2017/09/15/1739163/investment-pledges-jump-38-aug