Phl expects FDI to reach $4 billion in 2013

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government is expecting a 40 percent hike in foreign direct investment (FDI) to $4 billion in 2013 from $2.8 billion in 2012, the Philippines' Trade Department said today.

In 2011, the country saw at least $1.8 billion in direct foreign investments, which grew by 55 percent to $2.8 billion in 2012.

The data showed that during the first 4 to 5 months in 2013, foreign direct investment was already at the level of $2.6 billion, enough for the Trade Department to shoot for a 40 percent increase in direct investment in 2013.

Despite the hefty projection, the department expressed concern that multinational corporations (MNCs) that have set operations in the Philippines are expanding, not via foreign direct investment but through domestic funding.

"While doing their (MNCs) investments here, they are funding them locally. And they're not coming out as FDI. To me local funding is okay so long as there is excess fund. But if there is a shortage of funds, then it's not good," Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said in an interview.

"Despite the gap in data collection, our FDI is increasing a lot now. We should be in the range of as much as $8 billion now if the data is properly collated," he added.

There are over 1,000 foreign companies operating in the Philippines but only a fifth of them have come out in the open to declare their investment and the source of it.