ince the start of 2010 investment pledges made with the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) at end-February totaled P29.95 billion, up 107 percent from the P14.45-billion worth of commitments in the same two-month period last year.

Since the start of 2010 investment pledges made with the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) at end-February totaled P29.95 billion, up 107 percent from the P14.45-billion worth of commitments in the same two-month period last year.

The indications would be that investors are now back to feeling confident at investing back into the Philippines market.

A total of 99 projects, which promise to generate 20,837 jobs, were registered with BOI and PEZA in the two-month period beginning of 2010.

Investment commitments by foreigners surged 671 percent to P14.58 billion, from P1.89 billion last year.

Japanese firms committed P7.12 billion—about half of the foreign investments. Singaporeans and Americans pledged P4.83 billion and P1.18 billion, respectively.

Local investors pledged P15.38 billion, about a fifth higher year-on-year.

Commitments in the manufacturing and power sectors jumped by over 1,000 percent and 3,690 percent, respectively, but those in real estate (including mass housing and industrial estate development) and information technology slightly contracted. Hopefully commitments by major developing companies to push mass housing projects will shift this figure by year end.

The two biggest investments were registered with PEZA—first by a Japanese firm for flip chip grid array manufacturing and the second by a Singaporean photovoltaic panel maker.

Other big-ticket investment pledges were two wind power generation projects of listed Petro-Energy Resources Corp., which will put up plants in Nabas, Aklan and Sual, Pangasinan worth P2.55 billion and P2.54 billion, respectively.

This comes right after the 2009 drop in manufacturing production the Philippines experienced during the world economic downturn.