Nine-month foreign investment down

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MANILA – Foreign investment commitments to seven investment promotion agencies (IPA) in the country declined by more than two-fifths year-on-year during the third quarter, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

On Tuesday, data from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCP) revealed that investments during the third quarter from seven IPAs, which include the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (Afab), Board of Investments (BOI), Board of Investments-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BOI-ARMM), Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza), Clark Development Corp. (CDC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), only amounted to P18.3 billion. The approvals were 44.4 percent lower compared to the P32.9 billion collected by the IPAs during the same period last year.

Moreover, the amount collected by the seven IPAs was even lower than the P37.4 billion and P36 billion pledged in the first and second quarter, respectively.

The approved foreign investments sum up to P91.8 billion as of end-September, lower by 35.4 percent from the P142.1 billion in the same period last year.

Filipino-led projects made up of 88.5 percent of the investments or P141.3 billion out of the P159.6 billion commitment, the remaining balance are foreign investments. However, the number still remains lesser that 2013’s P189.

33 billion.

The top sources of foreign investments in the country include the Netherlands, Japan, and the United States.

When it comes to sectors, the biggest share is taken by manufacturing, followed by administrative and support service activities, and real estate.