P80-B Energy Projects Seek Incentives

Three ancillary energy projects including fuel storage facilities worth P80 billion have applied for registration with the Board of

Investments and are expected to give the much needed boost to the agency’s sluggish investment picture.

Trade and Industry undersecretary Cristino L. Panlilio told reporters the three projects are meant to support power plant operations. He,

however, refused to identify these projects.

Panlilio, the DTI undersecretary for international trade and investments promotions group, earlier said that total investments for the year

are expected to match only the 2011 total haul of P368.9 billion. So far, the BOI has generated only P200 billion or just half of its P400

billion target for the entire year.

He said that opposition to energy projects has been causing delays in energy projects registration and in their implementation. He cited the

case of AES Philippines in Zambales, which has yet to be approved by the BOI. Other projects like GN Power are facing environmental issues.

“It is a battle of energy in the next two years as we are running out of capacities,” he said noting that some of the power projects they

approved that could generate 2,000 megawatts are still facing some opposition from environmentalists group.

Aside from the difficulty in the power sector, Panlilio said the mining industry’s promotions have also to take a back seat and that

investors may have withheld their registration because of the new mining policy of the Aquino administration.

“We are neutral right now on mining because we cannot commit because policies that are not yet finalized,” Panlilio said.

Mining has been touted as one of the major sources of big ticket projects this year, but investors are on a wait and see attitude pending the

effectivity of the implementing rules and regulations of Executive Order 79 and the amendment of the Mining Law.

“Mining companies are all interested to invest in the country, but they have concerns on the franchise, the tax issue and the plan to revise

the automatic 25 year renewal of mining operations,” Panlilio said.

For instance, the $5.9-billion Tampakan project, one of the world’s biggest copper-gold deposits, led by global miners Xstrata Plcand

Indophil Resources N.L., is facing strong opposition both from the local government, the religious and the non-governmental organizations

underlies the risks foreign investors face.

The Tampakan mine, predicted to have a 17-year lifespan, is the biggest of several mining projects in the country, which the Mines and

Geosciences Bureau had estimated would bring in up to $12 billion in new investment between 2012 and 2016.

Investment in mining, which once made up a fifth of the country’s exports, amounted to $3.8 billion in the last six years, including about

$700 million last year which was just half a government forecast. (BCM)

Aside from the constraints in mining investments, the BoI has also implemented a stricter evaluation process in the registration of projects

for incentives purposes.

For instance, the BoI has implemented additional guidelines on the evaluation of projects for registration and entitlement to incentives.

https://www.mb.com.ph/articles/378132/p80b-energy-projects-seek-incentives