The Board of Investments said Wednesday two companies agreed to put-up processing plants in the Philippines with estimated investments reaching $10 billion for both projects.
“We have two different sets of investors for the nickel processing—Chinese and non-Chinese investors. Both are very eager to set up their facilities in the Philippines with projected multiple returns and a ready market outside the Philippines,” BOI managing director and Trade undersecretary for industry development and trade policy group Ceferino Rodolfo said at the sidelines of an investment forum organized by the Management Association of the Philippines Wednesday.
Rodolfo said the two companies conducted separate site visits to the Leyte Industrial Development Estate which they were looking at as the preferred site for their investments.
Both processors are expected to register their projects within the year, which could also signal other investors to help create an ecosystem for green projects involving nickel as the major raw material for precursors for electric batteries, he said.
“Processing will increase the value of our nickel ores, which is what the Department of Trade and Industry is pushing for—adding value to our exports,” Rodolfo said.
He said nickel processors could easily set up a new processing facility within 24 months and catch up with Indonesia and Vietnam on the level of metals processing investments. The Philippines needs an additional $5 billion to outrun these countries, he said.
“This is critical for us. We won’t derogate environmental policy and labor protection because that is very important to us. Whatever nickel we are able to process are geared towards electric battery production. These will be used by global brands that have very strict ES compliance policies,” he said.
The BOI is also in talks with investors on renewable power projects and other green initiatives.
The government is focused on fortifying the domestic economy by bringing in more investors and ensuring that game-changing economic reforms are implemented, which will further improve ease of doing business and make the Philippines more attractive to foreign investors, according to the agency.
“These game-changing reforms are set to attract increased investments moving forward. We want investments that will enable the Philippines to leapfrog, that is, to quickly advance to higher-value industrialization by skipping intermediate stages of development,” said Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual.
“We are particularly interested in investments that promote advancements in science, technology and innovation to foster innovative industries,” he said.