Approved investments down 5.4% in 2013

MANILA, Philippines - Total approved foreign investments (FIs) in the country fell 5.4 percent to P274 billion in 2013, from P289.5 billion in 2012, as investment pledges in the fourth quarter suffered a huge drop, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

In the fourth quarter alone, approved foreign investments amounted to just P132 billion, plummeting 42.7 percent compared to P230.2 billion in 2012.

The approvals came from seven investment promotion agencies (IPAs): the Board of Investments (BOI), Clark Development Corp. (CDC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), BOI-Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BOI-ARMM), and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA).

Based on PSA data, the British Virgin Islands was the top source of approved FIs in the last three months of 2013 as it contributed 35 percent or the equivalent of P46.1 billion to total FI commitments.

It was followed by Japan and the Netherlands, pledging P29.4 billion or 22.3 percent and P14.4 billion or 10.9 percent, respectively, of the total approved FIs during the quarter.

Projects in the transportation and storage sector garnered the largest amount of FI pledges for the last quarter of 2013 as it stood to receive P53.1 billion or 40.2 percent of total FIs.

Manufacturing came in second with investment pledges valued at P51.7 billion, accounting for 39.2 percent, followed by administrative and support service activities at P14.5 billion or an 11 percent share.

In 2012, the manufacturing sector was the top recipient of pledges worth P136.8 billion or 59.4 percent of total.

Transportation and storage was second with investment pledges valued at P50 billion, contributing 21.7 percent, followed by information and communication (ICT) at P14.5 billion or 6.3 percent.

Approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals in the fourth quarter of 2013 totaled P235.7 billion, 28.6 percent lower than the P330.1 billion posted the previous year.

Pledges from Filipino nationals stood at P103.7 billion, which accounted for 44 percent of total approved investments during the quarter.

Foreign and Filipino ventures approved by the seven IPAs during the fourth quarter of 2013 are expected to create 46,997 jobs, inching up four percent from the previous year’s projected employment of 45,198 jobs.