Approved investment pledges of Filipino and foreign nationals contracted 48.9 percent in the first semester of 2015.
Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed total approved investments reached P186.44 billion in the January-to-June period, from P365.16 billion in the same period in 2014.
The country’s primary investment-promotion agencies (IPAs)—the Board of Investments (BOI) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza)—both recorded lower investment pledges in the first six months of the year. Investments approved by the BOI, which accounted for 49.4 percent of the total, or 92.02 billion, dropped by 38.4 percent, from P149.45 billion in 2014.
Those approved by the Peza, which accounted for 42.3 percent, or P78.88 billion, in the first semester posted a decline of 26.3 percent, from P106.98 billion in the same period last year. The largest decline was recorded in the investment pledges at the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (Afab), which posted a 99.1-percent drop. Investments approved by Afab reached P764.6 million, or 0.4 percent of the total.
In the second quarter, approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals reached P90 billion. It fell 65.1 percent, from last year’s P257.8 billion. Filipino nationals dominated the tally anew, with a share of 59.8 percent in the approved investments for the period.
“Total projects of foreign and Filipino investors approved by the seven IPAs for the second quarter of 2015 are expected to generate 36,196 jobs, lower by 69.5 percent from last year’s projected employment of 118,835 in the same period,” the PSA said.
“Out of these anticipated jobs, 71.5 percent would come from projects with foreign interest,” it added.
The top 3 countries with approved investment commitments for the second quarter of 2015 are the
Netherlands, Singapore and Japan.
The Netherlands pledged P17 billion, or 46.8 percent of the total, during the quarter, while Singapore and Japan committed P8.4 billion and P4 billion, or 23.2 percent and 11.1 percent of the total approved foreign investments, respectively.
In terms of location, the bulk of the approved foreign investments is intended for new projects in Region
4A—Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon—amounting to P22.3 billion, or 61.5 percent.
The next highest investments are in Region 7—Central Visayas—at P3.9 billion, or 10.8 percent, followed by the National Capital Region, at P2.4 billion, or 6.6 percent.
Manufacturing remained to be the industry with the largest amount of committed foreign investments in the second quarter of 2015, at P21.8 billion, or 60.2 percent of the total.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing came in second, with investment pledges valued at P5.1 billion for a share of 14.2 percent, followed by construction at P2.6 billion.
Foreign investments approved and registered by the IPAs are termed “approved foreign investments,” replacing the term “approved foreign direct investments” used in the previous reports. This is to distinguish clearly the approved foreign investments, which are only commitments and pledges, from the foreign direct investments, which are actual investments being released in the balance of payments by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
