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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines closed 2015 with a 3% increase in approved domestic and foreign investments compared to 2014, thanks to big energy-related projects.
This is expected to translate to 58,252 new jobs when the investments become fully operational, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Thursday, January 7.
The 2015 results boost DTI’s prospects for 2016, with an expected growth of 5% for approved investments, the agency’s newly appointed chief Adrian Cristobal Jr said on Thursday, January 7.
“Conservatively, we are looking at 5% [growth for 2016]. If you look at the past 3 years, jobs generated increased,” Cristobal told a media briefing in Makati City.
Cristobal said the growth drivers for 2016 will be business process outsourcing (BPO), services sector, manufacturing, public expenditure, real estate, energy, and tourism.
“But we really have to be mindful of external factors. There’s anticipation of a general slowdown in Asia. On the other hand, historically whenever we have an election year, economy grows at about 7% obviously because of the election-related spending,” Cristobal said.
The new DTI chief attributed the approved 2015 investments mainly to big power projects including Olympia Violago Water & Power Limited Company; San Buenaventura Power Limited Company; and Semirara Mining and Power Corporation.
Overall, the DTI said energy-related investment projects totaled P246.42 billion ($5.24 billion) from 55 deals.Â
This figure is higher than 2014’s record of P174.69 billion ($3.72 billion) from 37 power-related projects.
“The increase in power investment projects augurs well for the country’s goal to ensure energy security and independence. These investments support the Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) 2010-2030 to search for, discover, and further develop energy sources,” BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said in a separate statement.
The PEP indicated that at least P3 trillion ($63.84-billion) in fresh investments are needed to attain the goal.Â
The DTI said the manufacturing sector also contributed to the increase in investments, which reached P27.01 billion ($574.66 million) from P24.47 billion ($522.62 million) in 2014.Â
“The continued growth of the manufacturing industry is a clear indication of the efforts to boost the growth and further development of the sector through the Manufacturing Resurgence Program (MRP),” Rodolfo said.
The MRP aims to rebuild the existing capacity of industries, strengthen new ones, and maintain the competitiveness of industries with comparative advantage.
“The revival of the manufacturing sector is key to inclusive economic growth because it will generate much-needed employment and help the country tap regional production networks,” Rodolfo said.
Other sectors that also contributed to the increase are agriculture, forestry, and fishing with P6.19 billion ($131.71 million); and information and communication with P4.68 billion ($99.58 million), the DTI said.
Investment commitments from domestic sources reached 84% of the total investment approvals last year, while the remaining 16% were generated from foreign sources.
The DTI said foreign country sources include the Netherlands with 45% share; Singapore (18% share), Malaysia (4% share), South Korea (4% share), and Taiwan (4% share). – Rappler.com
$1=P47
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