THE Board of Investments (BOI) has asked Chinese investors to set up shops in the Philippines for the manufacture of products of the future, especially now that the economy is poised to grow capital inflows as part of its recovery.
Trade Secretary and BOI Chairman Ramon M. Lopez on Wednesday said investments applied to the BOI jumped more than double to nearly P122 billion for the first two months of the year. He appealed before Chinese manufacturers, as such, to take a look at the Philippines to locate here their expansion projects.
“Investments registered in our BOI showed sustained growth of 151.02 percent year on year in the first two months of this year, reaching P121.93 billion or $2.5 billion for two months,” Lopez said at the first Manila Forum for Philippines-China relations.
Citing data from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Lopez reported that projects signed by Chinese contractors in the Philippines in the last three years surged close to 28 percent. In 2019, for one, new contracts amounted to $6.4 billion, and this expanded to $9.59 billion last year.
“But even with all these business deals, there are still a wide range of investment opportunities available in our country that investors can take advantage of presently,” Lopez said.
He pitched to Chinese investors the following industries: manufacturing of electric vehicles and bicycles, and traditional bicycles; manufacturing of connectivity devices, bags and textile; and Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and production of smart devices. The BOI eyes to turn the country into a manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia for products of the future.
The trade chief said these areas for production are where China can set its sights first, even as investments from Beijing have been sweeping into the traditional industries.
DITO Telecommunity, for instance, is now on its way to become the country’s third player in the telecommunications competition. Lopez also cited the Chinese investments in the fields of steel making and renewable energy that are seen to benefit mainly the countryside.
Lopez, for his part, thanked China for donating 600,000 doses of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine that arrived in the country on Sunday.
Now that the vaccines are coming in one by one, investors can expect the economy to rebound over the next months, he said. Proof of this, Lopez said the Philippine manufacturing output in February remained the same as in January at 52.5, indicating that factory activities in the country are now recovering.
FFCCCI buying vaccines
On Wednesday also, the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry announced it is purchasing 500,000 shots of the Sinovac vaccine to be injected on what the group calls economic frontline workers.
The initiative will be financed by volunteer donations from the group’s 170 members nationwide. It is cooperating with hospitals from across the country in carrying out the actual vaccination on entrepreneurs and their workers.
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