After surpassing their investment approvals for this year, the Board of Investments (BoI) now targets P1.75 trillion worth of fresh investments for next year, eight percent higher than this year’s approved investments.

“Initially, we are targeting P1.75 trillion, so that’s 8 percent higher than this year’s approval. We expect that renewable energy will dominate the approvals, but we are hoping to register manufacturing and other sectors that we are focusing on, such as semiconductors and those that are into high-value manufacturing,” Lanie Dormiendo, BoI director for International Investments Promotion Service, said in a briefing on Friday.

On Thursday, the BoI reported that its approved investments reached P1.62 trillion, exceeding its 2024 targets of P1.5 trillion set at the beginning of 2024, marking the highest level of investment approvals in the BoI’s 57-year history.

The BoI said this year’s approvals reflect a 28 percent growth compared to the P1.26 trillion during the same period in 2023.

Energy deals stay hot

The energy sector, specifically the renewable energy projects, leads the surge in approvals, totaling P1.38 trillion and marking a 40 percent year-on-year increase.

Other leading sectors in 2024 included Air and Water Transport at P121.20 billion, Real Estate Activities (Mass Housing) at P37.26 billion, Manufacturing at P31.67 billion, Water Supply, Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation Activities at P16.28 billion; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing at P11.02 billion; Wholesale and Retail at P8.25 billion, and IT-BPM at P7.34 billion.

Local investments have seen a remarkable 150 percent uptick, with Filipino companies contributing P1.23 trillion worth of investments.