THE Board of Investments (BOI) said it is confident of hitting its P1.5-trillion investment approvals target for 2023 amid the establishment of green lanes—a move seen to address the barriers that hamper the entry of foreign direct investments.
Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual, who also chairs the BOI since it is an attached agency to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said at the launch of Executive Order (EO) No. 18 Constituting Green Lanes for Strategic Investments, that the investment promotion agency will stick to its P1.5-trillion investment approvals target for 2023. It is difficult to keep adjusting targets, he explained.
This, he said, despite the establishment of green lanes being “meant to support the investment leads that we have been accumulating from our investment missions.”
“We’ll stick … Mahirap ‘yung moving target. We revise it once upward. Let it be. If we exceed it, fine. If we fall behind, we’ll work harder,” Pascual told reporters on the sidelines of the launching of EO 18 in Pasay City. Related story on green lanes in Economy, page A4.
In February 2023, the BOI decided to revise its 2023 Investment approvals target from P1 trillion to P1.5 trillion following the “strong” investment approvals recorded in January 2023 alone.
Pascual earlier attributed the revision of the investment approvals target for 2023 to the “robust” pipeline of investment leads, including those secured through the foreign trips of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.
“Given the strong investment approvals for January, as well as the robust pipeline of investment leads—including those generated through Presidential Visits—I have increased the 2023 Investment Registration target of BOI from P1 trillion to P1.5 trillion,” Pascual said in February.
At the launching of the green lanes on Thursday, Pascual said, “adjusting targets will be based on two sides, the supply and demand.”
On Thursday, President Marcos Jr. together with Pascual led the official launch of the green lanes for strategic investments.
The green lanes for strategic investments were established through Executive Order No. 18 (EO 18) issued on February 23,2023.
According to BOI, EO 18 is a government-wide response to enhance the ease of doing business in the country by “expediting, streamlining and automating” government processes for strategic investments.
“Its outstanding feature is the provision for simultaneous processing of applications whereby National Government Agencies [NGAs] and Local Government Units [LGUs] that receive applications for permits and licenses are mandated to process the same with the presumption that the relevant documents from other agencies have already been issued and where the applicant firm shall execute an affidavit of undertaking that it has secured the relevant documents from specific NGAs or LGUs and that it shall submit the complete documentary requirements within 30 working days,” BOI said in a statement on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Pascual explained to reporters how the green lane process works: “Go to BOI, single point of entry and then you will be guided to go through the process. Then, the [Department of the Interior and Local Government] DILG will talks to the LGUs. They’ll organize also. There is an officer or a team that will be in charge of taking care of strategic investors.”