Philippines to boost mining investment, targets $20B in commitments – Bloomberg

The Philippines will work to boost investments in its mining sector by leveraging the global shift to green technologies and the increased demand for data centers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloomberg News reported, citing a government official.

Philippine Trade Undersecretary Perry Rodolfo, who also leads the country's Board of Investments, or BOI, said the end of a ban on new mining permits may also attract funds for processing minerals instead of just exporting mineral-bearing ore, according to the report.

The BOI is also targeting domestic and international investment commitments for 2022 totaling approximately 1 trillion pesos, or $20 billion, the undersecretary said in the report.

The Philippines aims to process ore locally into precursor materials for a wide range of products, including the batteries used to power electric vehicles and data centers, Rodolfo said.

President Rodrigo Duterte recently approved a 2022 strategic investment priority plan that lists activities such as environment- and climate-change-related projects as eligible for tax incentives.

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