Foreign Direct Investment Philippines

Foreign direct investments  in the Philippines have reached record levels over the last 5 years. Year by year the Philippines has seen in increased number of companies interested in setting up a presence in the country. The highest number of foreign direct investments in the Philippines have been in the call center and/or BPO sector. In order to attract BPO players to set up office in the country, the Philippine government has  put the BPO industry on top of their priority plan. Special incentives are granted for companies that are operating in the ITES, BPO and KPO sector and that are setting up office in the Philippines.

Comapnies interested in placing a foreign direct investment in the Philippine call center and/or BPO industry can have the following two government incentive options:

Government Investment Incentives

Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA)  grants investors that are locating their ITES, BPO, KPO or call center operation within a PEZA zone and/or PEZA registered building as well as fullfil all requirements set by PEZA with incentives which include tax breaks and significantly reduced Tax (e.g. import of IT equipment etc. ). PEZA distinguishes between pioneer status and non pioneer status. In short, companies with pioneer status enjoy longer tax breaks than companies without it.

Apart from PEZA companies also have the option to file fosr government incentives granted by the Borad of Investment (BOI) in the Philippines. The incentives are almost identical. Companies registering their foreign direct investment in the Philippines with BOI are able to locate anywhere in the Philippines and are not bound to certain IT zones or buildings.

Also the PEZA incentives are in general a bit more comprehensive than those granted by the BOI, the rent for a location within a PEZA zone is usually significantly higher than rent in building that are located outside of PEZA zones or registered buildings.