The Board of Investments has created a specific listing of “micro and small projects” as a new category under the proposed 2010 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) in lieu of the Contingency List, which would be abolished in the new IPP.

Trade and Industry Undersecretary and BoI Managing Head Elmer C. Hernandez said the “micro and small projects” category would be entitled to the same incentives granted to enterprises listed in the IPP.

The following activities are qualified for income tax holiday under the Contingency List: Retain investments and maintain current number of workers; retain investments and increase current number of workers; increase investments and maintain current number of workers; or increase investments increase current number of workers.

The following activities are not qualified: Banks and financial institutions, retailing, alls services except those qualified under the Regular List, small scale mining, activities that are restricted/regulated by law or ordinances for reasons of security, defense and risk to health and morals, activities of non-Philippine nations engaged in small and medium enterprises, non agricultural basic consumer good, personal care products, all existing powers and infrastructure projects with sovereign guarantee or granted ITH, and other activities and many determined by the BoI Board.

The Contingency List was created as a new list in the 2009 IPP, with the theme “Save Jobs” to grant incentives to companies that were affected by the global financial crisis but still undertook activities like pouring in additional investments that would spare them from laying off workers.

But during its Board meeting last week, which was presided by DTI Secretary Peter B. Favila, the BoI approved the removal of the Contingency List in this year’s IPP after it was informed that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has already declared late last year that the economic crisis in the country has been over.

“We are confirming in writing from NEDA and once they are officially confirmed the crisis as over then we are officially removing the Contingency List in this year’s IPP,” Hernandez said.

This is consistent with the 2009 IPP, which provides that the Contingency List would be removed once the NEDA has official declared the economic crisis over.

Nonetheless, Hernandez said that companies that filed their applications in December last year for incentives under the Contingency List would still be acted upon by the BoI.

Hernandez said that three more applications, which also registered in December last year under the Contingency List, are awaiting BoI action.

So far, the BoI has approved only one company Yushiko Industries, which is engaged in the production of special packaging materials for semiconductor.

“Yushiko’s continued operation was in support to the semiconductor sector, which was hit by the crisis, but it chose to maintain operation and avoid laying-off workers even if its bottomline was down significantly,” he said.