By Alithea De Jesus
The Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) clinched the runner-up position in the recent 2020 Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) Awards for the South, East Asia and Oceania region on the strength of its approval of the Philippines Fiber Optic Cable Network Ltd Inc.’s (PFOCN) US$2.650 billion project. The award reaffirms the Agency’s service excellence in promoting and driving strategic and socially-relevant investments in the country.
The investment projects were evaluated using the following criteria: size of investment, type and form of investment, scale of job creation, innovation and technology transfer, exports, import substitution, local linkages sustainable development, eco-friendly, and impact on country competitiveness and FDI attraction.
Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo received the award and thanked the AIM organizers. “It is an honor not only for the Agency but for the whole country. Even amidst the ongoing virus pandemic, there is no let-up in our drive to attract more investments as we recently breached the US$16 billion mark (Php780 billion @ Php48.5 to US$1) through September this year which is actually up two percent from the same period last year. No matter how small the increase, we welcome it as other economies even struggle to eke out a growth during the pandemic,” he said adding that he is also looking forward for the infrastructure, telecommunication, as well as transportation and power sectors to step up further in a post-pandemic scenario.
Trade Undersecretary and Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo delivered his speech for winning the runner-up spot for the project Philippines Fiber Optic Cable Network Ltd., Inc. (PFOCN) in the South, East Asia and Oceania Region Category of the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) Investment Awards held on 22 October 2020.
The PFOCN project was granted pioneering status as it will build 60,000 route kilometers (or 40 million cores km) of fiber optic cable nationwide and is considered the single most extensive cable network project in the Philippines to date. The project is supportive of the launch of communications operators of innovative technologies such as 5G network, cloud service, internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence services at more affordable prices to Filipinos and Philippine-based companies. It also directly corresponds to the call of the Duterte administration to improve the country’s overall internet speed and spur job generating investments in the regions.
The BOI, for its part, has extended its assistance to the company by seeking the full support of relevant government agencies such as the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), etc.) and local government units (LGUs) in processing its business requirements needed to undertake its telecom infrastructure works.
In addition, BOI created an Account Management Team (AMT), composed of relevant government agencies, acting as a facilitator to ensure the immediate delivery of services and prevent any delay in the course of the project’s construction/implementation.
The Annual AIM Investment Awards is an initiative of the Ministry of Economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is considered among the global leaders in investment-focused events, offering a perfect blend of trade fair and intellectual features aimed at enriching institutional, corporate and individual investors attending with a comprehensive set of guidelines for their future investment decisions in high growth regions. It was launched in 2013 and has become a widely appreciated recognition of the best investment promotion agencies (IPAs) attracting the best investment projects in a given year. Awards are given to selected IPAs in nine (9) regions globally.
This marks the third time BOI has won at the AIM Awards. It garnered first place in 2015 and runner-up position in 2017.