For more than five decades, the Board of Investments (BOI) has been unwavering in its commitment to nation-building through the promotion of investments and development of competitive industries, which will result in jobs creation and a better life for every single Filipino. Growing beyond, by going beyond, the BOI works relentlessly to fast-track the country’s transformation into a prime investments destination and make opportunities happen.
In celebration of BOI’s 56 years in service, we are sharing with you some facts that you may not know about the Agency.
DID YOU KNOW THAT…
1. … the BOI is the country’s lead industry development and investments promotion agency?
The BOI is the country’s lead industry development and investments promotion agency (IPA) attached to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). As the prime partner of industries, the BOI formulates and implements policies and programs enabling local industries to be globally competitive responsive to domestic and export needs. As the country’s foremost investments promotion agency, the BOI organizes investment missions promoting the Philippines as a viable investment destination to further drive economic growth and create the much-needed jobs.
Investment rules and policies implemented by all IPAs emanate from the BOI. Likewise, the BOI has been a driving force in the passage of game-changing laws that opened the gates to strategic investments needed to build a more modern Philippine economy.
• IPP/SIPP. The first Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) identifying activities to be entitled to incentives under Proclamation No. 404 was issued on July 1, 1968, and listed 59 preferred areas. Annual IPPs followed and generated investments and employment in different sectors of the economy. The first Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP), successor to the IPP, was signed in May 2022, qualifying activities that can receive fiscal incentives under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.
The SIPP aims to create high-skilled jobs, to grow a local pool of enterprises that can supply to domestic and global value chains, to increase the sophistication of local products and services expand domestic supply, and to reduce dependence on imports.
• PH’s Lead IPA. The BOI, as Chair of the Philippine Investment Promotion Plan (PIPP) Steering Committee, champions a culture of cooperation with other IPAs to integrate all promotion and facilitation efforts. The BOI also serves as the lead coordinator of the Investments Promotion Units Network (IPUNet), fostering a more robust collaboration and commitment among government agencies, and thereby promoting the ease of doing business.
• Green Lane. Signed in February 2023, Executive Order No. 18, “Constituting Green Lanes for Strategic Investments,” designated the BOI as the single entry point for such investments. The green lanes addresses barriers across multiple regulatory agencies that hamper the entry and delay the realization of foreign direct investments. Since it assumed this new role, the BOI has assisted renewable energy companies in keeping with the government’s goal to accelerate the realization of green investments in the Philippines.
2. … the BOI’s first Managing Head also served as the country’s Prime Minister?
Former Prime Minister Cesar E.A. Virata is also BOI’s Founding Chairman
The country’s former prime minister, Cesar E.A. Virata, is also the Founding Chairman of the BOI. Appointed to the position in 1967, he was tasked to oversee the implementation of Republic Act No. 5186, the Investment Incentives Act, which created the BOI. In his short but successful stint, Virata balanced nationalism with attracting foreign investments to spur economic growth and build local industries.
3. … 68% of BOI employees are women, while 38% of employees have post-graduate degrees?
BOI Management Committee
Behind the scenes are the employees of the BOI who form a dedicated team of professionals whose expertise and commitment drive the engine of economic success for the country. An investment promotion agency is only as strong as the individuals who comprise it, with diverse profiles and talents that make up its dynamic workforce.
Based on the BOI’s HR data, the majority of employees are females, who make up 68% of the total workforce. Correspondingly, a significant proportion (66%) of the BOI’s Top Management are women. Moreover, 38% of BOI employees have post-graduate degrees — 13% are MBA graduates and 11% have law degrees. In addition, 19% of employees have successfully completed an accounting course, 16% have successfully completed engineering courses, 13% completed Business Administration courses, and 9% have completed courses related to Economics.
4. … the BOI kept businesses afloat and even helped them expand during the pandemic?
BOI Team with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. during the launch of EO 18
At the height of the pandemic and even post-pandemic, the BOI weathered economic storms, adapted to shifting global dynamics, and championed innovative strategies to promote investment opportunities.
Through collaboration with industry partners, the milestones achieved not only reflect the agency’s commitment to its mission but also serve as a testament to the power of strategic foresight. In a year that saw intermittent lockdowns, the BOI focused on keeping businesses afloat and even helping them expand and navigate through a better normal. Among other things, the BOI:
• The BOI led the DTI Task Force that ensured medical oxygen is made available to hospitals all over the country in order to save lives. Through the leadership of the BOI, the production and supply of medical oxygen had been strategically coordinated across regions, in partnership with the DoH and the oxygen producers.
Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo
• Encouraged the local industry to build capabilities to produce vaccines, starting with COVID-19, to address current and future health emergencies and pandemics. Of the eight local companies that expressed interest in manufacturing vaccines locally, one will be breaking ground soon. Aside from COVID-19 vaccines, the BOI supported the production by Lloyd Laboratories, Inc. of Molnupiravir, an oral therapy for COVID-19 patients.
• The BOI embarked in a Repurposing Manufacturing Program “Zero to Hero” that saw the quick establishment of local manufacturing capability for PPEs, including surgical grade facemasks and face shields to be supplied to Filipinos.
• Assisted 433 firms or 1,919 personnel for travel ban exemption
• Processed 2,168 requests and issued 152,964 Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) IDs during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ)
5. … the BOI has 4 nickel processing partnership projects under discussion?
Nickel
The four nickel processing partnership projects will be built in Surigao del Norte and Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur, Palawan, and Davao. The projects will meet the demand for clean energy technologies. It is important for the Philippines to capitalize on the opportunity to enhance the country’s mineral resources through value-added processing.
6. … the BOI is the only IPA with an industry development function?
Among the country’s IPAs, the BOI is the only one with an industry development function. In 2012, the BOI launched the Industry Roadmapping Project under its Industry Development Program (IDP) to encourage industries to craft their respective roadmaps that will be jointly implemented by the government and industry. More than 40 roadmaps have since been submitted and at different levels of implementation. The IDP’s overall goal is “to create a better future for Filipinos in the Philippines by developing industries and attracting investments that will provide jobs, foster innovation and improve the competitiveness of the local industries, responsive to the needs of the local and global markets.” As such, the IDP pursues an inclusive and targeted approach in identifying and addressing industry development needs.
7. … that BOI developed the country’s first industrial ecological zone?
The BOI, in coordination with relevant stakeholders especially the regional offices and institutions, is working on establishing the Philippines’ first green industrial zone, the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone (LEIZ). Focused on copper, it is envisioned to be a manufacturing hub with commercial area and agro-industrial facilities, fostering synergy among sectors. The LEIZ is based on the Master Development Plan drafted by Palafox and targets a self-sustaining copper supply chain by 2030. LEIZ spans 1,000 hectares, incorporating international best practices. Ultimately, the project’s goal is to integrate the copper supply chain from mining to processing of copper products. The LEIZ intends to develop the copper industry cluster and related industries in the Zone.
8. … that BOI has already approved a total of P9.61-trillion investments over the past two decades?
The BOI recorded its first trillion at P1.14 trillion of approved investments in 2019, the highest investment approval in the Agency’s 56-year history. By end of 2023, the BOI targets P1.5 trillion worth of investments, aiming to position itself among the top 3 FDI hot spots in Southeast Asia.
9. … that BOI introduced the Philippines’ international investment promotion brand, “Make it Happen in the Philippines?”
The “Make it Happen in the Philippines” Campaign was introduced by the BOI in November 2020 as the new international investment promotion brand campaign of the country. The campaign reinforces the country’s highly skilled and resilient human resources and “make-it-work” mindset, underlining its strength and adaptability even in times of adversity. Since its launch, the MIH campaign has been adopted by various Philippine investment promotion agencies, foreign and commercial attaches, and some local government units as the country’s investments promotion brand.
More compellingly, the President himself has been articulating the MIH tagline in business missions abroad, garnering investment pledges from various foreign companies interested in setting up or expanding their business here in the country.