JUST over P600 million worth of investments — most involving renewable energy — have been approved by the Board of Investments (BoI) since the start of the year.

The agency reported that 117 projects worth a total of P607.22 billion had been greenlit as of mid-April, 15 percent higher compared to the P527.24 billion posted in the same period last year.

Of the total, domestic investors were said to account for P494.3 billion.

"Many are currently applying with us that are still being evaluated," BoI Director Sandra Marie Recolizado told reporters last Friday.

"Those in the pipeline are for checklisting, in other words, they haven't been accepted yet, but we already have interactions with them," she added.

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual welcomed the continued confidence of domestic investors, saying "we shouldn't underestimate the significance of domestic investments because that's what we really encourage in the Philippines, for domestic investors to commit their capital to projects within the country rather than taking their money outside the Philippines."

Ahunan Power Inc.'s 1400 MW Pakil Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Project was said to be the biggest project approved to date by the BoI. The P296.98-billion project, to be located in Laguna, is 100 percent Filipino-owned.

The second largest, meanwhile, is Ivisan Windkraft Corp.'s P83.7-billion wind energy project in Cavite.

The BoI approved P1.26 trillion in investment projects last year, a 73-percent increase from 2022 and surpassing the P995.59 billion target.

This included 311 projects, with the majority involving renewable energy, telecommunications infrastructure, and the export of copper, gold and other metals.