The Board of Investments (BoI) has approved the framework for the 2010 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), which seeks to grant incentives to targeted investments that would take advantage of the expected global and domestic economic rebound.

Trade and Industry Undersecretary and BoI managing head Elmer C. Hernandez said the Board has taken into consideration the local and global developments in approving the 2010 IPP policy framework.

"This will be an IPP that is focused and targeted to enable us to take advantage of the economic rebound otherwise we would be left behind in attracting these investments," Hernandez said.

With the theme "More Investments, More Jobs", Hernandez said the proposed 2010 IPP would take four approaches in order to attract investments into the country.

These approaches include aggressive investment promotion both for inbound and outbound missions; focus on sectors that can take advantage of the economic rebound; promotion of green projects; and support for small and medium enterprises.

Hernandez also said that government programs would have automatic support under the IPP.

There will also be strong support for the export sector or trade promotions.

"We have also to take into consideration the services sector because the BPO sector will resume its high growth path next year," said Hernandez.

As the developed countries recover from the global financial crisis, Hernandez sees opportunities for investments for retirement facilities and health care services.

On the local front, Hernandez said the election spending is expected to fuel economic activities leading to higher consumer spending.

On its promotion activities, Hernandez said the government missions should focus on the non-traditional sources of investments like the Middle East countries.

"We have been conducting promotions on our traditional investment sources but there are other countries with fresh resources to invest in our country," Hernandez said.

The 2010 IPP would be different in the sense that it seeks to create more jobs as against the "Save Jobs" thrust in the 2009 IPP as companies affected by the global financial meltdown were laying off workers or implementing shortened work week and job rotation measures.

With the approval of the 2010 IPP policy framework, the BOI would be ready to start crafting the IPP by determining the specific projects that would be listed and eligible for tax and fiscal incentives of the government.