COTABATO CITY – The National Statistical Coordination Board said foreign investments in the Philippines has dropped drastically – as much as 44% compared to last year’s investments.
It said total foreign investments approved in the third quarter of 2014 by the seven investment promotion agencies – Board of Investments, Clark Development Corporation, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, as well as the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, BOI-Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority amounted to only P18.3 billion or 44.4% lower than the PP32.9 billion recorded in the same period last year.
There was no mention of the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority or Zamboanga Freeport Authority in the NSCB report.
The NSCB said the total approved foreign investments for the first nine months of 2014 reached P91.8 billion, declining by 35.4% from the amount recorded in 2013 at P142.1 billion.
The top three prospective investing countries during the quarter include the Netherlands, Japan, and the United States of America. Netherlands topped the list, pledging P4.4 billion or 24.3% share, followed by Japan and USA, committing P3.7 billion and P2.8 billion, or 20.1% and 15.3% of the total approved investments, respectively.
It said the manufacturing industry contributed the largest amount of committed foreign investments in the third quarter of this year, with investment pledges recorded at P8.8 billion or 48% of the total foreign investments.
Administrative and support service activities came in second, contributing 20.8% or P3.8 billion worth of investment commitments, followed by real estate activities, which accounted for 13.3% or about P2.4 billion.
The NSCB said the approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals reached P159.6 billion during the period, declining also by 15.7% from 2013’s P189.3 billion.
Filipino nationals continued to dominate the investments approved during the quarter, sharing 88.5% or P141.3 billion worth of pledges and bulk of the investments are intended to finance activities in manufacturing, contributing P67.6 billion and with a share of 42.4%, followed by real estate activities at P31.4 billion or 19.7% share, and construction at P24.8 billion or roughly 15.5% share.
Total projects of foreign and Filipino investors approved by the seven investment promotion agencies in the third quarter of 2014 are expected to generate 54,606 jobs, an increase of 38.9% from last year’s projected employment of 39,314 jobs in the same period. Out of these anticipated jobs, 74.3% would come from projects with foreign interest. (Mindanao Examiner)
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