MANILA - The Philippines posted P1.02 trillion in investment pledges or approved investments last year despite the impact of the pandemic, the Board of Investments (BOI) said Tuesday.

This came from 311 approved projects in 2020, which is expected to generate 55,124 jobs, the BOI said.

Approved investments are commitments and pledges greenlighted by the BOI, which will turn into direct investments once they materialize.

This year, BOI is targeting P1.25 trillion worth of approved investments.

BOI said the P1-trillion mark was hit due to two large-scale power projects and a water supply project approved towards the end of 2020.

There were increased investments in power, water, transportation and storage sectors, it added.

"Moving forward to 2021, we expect that investments in these types of projects will intensify particularly in infrastructure -- road, ports and telecoms -- in water and power,” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a statement.

The BOI is under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Lopez said the passage of the CREATE bill will be a "game changer" as it will give a boost in attracting foreign investments to the Philippines.

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Latest data from the Bangko Sentral show net inflows of foreign direct investments (FDI) to the Philippines shrank 24.5 percent to $423 million in October last year from $561 million the same month a year ago.

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