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By Chino S. Leyco, Reporter
AMID gloomy picture of rising
inflation in the country, investments in the first four months of
the year outgrew by more than half those that came in during the
same period in 2007, the Department of Trade and Industry announced
on Thursday.
In a statement, Trade Secretary
Peter Favila said investment-promotion agencies have approved 272
projects amounting to P113.65 billion in January to April this year,
54 percent higher than the P73.63 billion for the same period in the
previous year.
Of the total, the Board of
Investments accounted for P75.51 billion and the Philippine Economic
Zone Authority, P38.14 billion.
“The committed investments are
expected to generate 54,373 additional jobs when the projects become
operational,” Favila said.
Although bulk of the investments
was in electricity, gas and water supply, he added, the real-estate,
renting and business-activity, infrastructure or industrial-service
and transport, storage and communication sectors remain upbeat.
Investments in the utility sector
cornered P43.21 billion, or almost a three- fold jump from last
year’s P10.85 billion.
“Investors are correctly
reading the country’s need for more power and water supply in the
near future. These projects have a long gestation, just in time to
meet the growing need for industries and the population,” Favila
said.
Information-technology
requirements for office and mass housing for the population
accounted for P17.15 billion in investments, or 20 percent more than
last year’s P14.35 billion.
Investments in infrastructure or
industrial service reached P10.89 billion.
Transport, storage and
communication accounted for P7.29 billion, or a six-fold increase
from last year’s P1.02 billion.
Manufacturing, with P28.43
billion in investments this year, however, contracted 38 percent. It
accounted for P39.31 billion during the same period last year.
Information technology, a
component of the manufacturing sector, generated P4.07 billion,
lower by 32 percent than last year’s P6.02 billion.
Trade Undersecretary Elmer
Hernandez, also the managing head of the Board of Investments, said
the information-technology sector’s investments, will create
14,236 new jobs.
Local investors accounted for
P60.08 billion, while P53.57 billion came from foreign investments.
Investors from South Korea topped
the list, putting in P20.5 billion, followed by Britain, P11.5
billion, and the United States, P8.42 billion.
Favila said the investment
performance for the period showed that businessmen were unfazed by
the current political noise in the country.
“It is business as usual. The
economic opportunities abound in the country and are open to those
who want to venture to the Philippines,” he added.
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