Mindanao investments surge to record high

DAVAO CITY — Investments in Mindanao posted a record increase of 133.8 percent in the first half of the year, mainly due to robust local investments, particularly in the power sector, the government announced Monday.

A total influx of 4.315 billion pesos worth of investments from 18 investment projects have been registered with the Board of Investments (BOI) and the PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate during the first semester, a remarkable increase of 133.8% from last year’s first semester figures, according to the Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco) based here.

Most of the BOI-registered investments came from local investors, Medco said in a statement. Medco data show a total of 3.340 billion pesos or 97 percent of the total investments registered with BOI came from local investors. Local investments have grown by 168.9 percent in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year.

Most of the investments during this period came from existing establishments undergoing expansion or rehabilitation of their business operations. The projects, it added, are expected to generate 2,206 jobs.

The Southern Mindanao region posted the biggest increase, with 2.792 billion pesos in investments, followed by 1.194 billion worth of investments in the PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate in Northern Mindanao.

Foreign direct investments, on the other hand, went down by as much as 80 percent, from 603.55 million pesos in the first semester of 2006 to only 115 million pesos in the same period this year.

The bulk of foreign investments came from Chinese investors venturing into mineral exploration projects, particularly chromite ore. Some of the investors will tie up with some of the local mining corporations in the exploration projects in the municipalities of Loreto and San Jose in Dinagat Island.

Other foreign investments came from Japanese investors who are into activated carbon manufacturing and South Korean investors who are operating in the coco peat industry.