Phl posts record high $6.2-B FDI, says Noy

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino bragged before big business yesterday that the Philippines achieved a record high $6.2 billion in foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2014.

“The year 2014 was a banner year for net FDI, reaching an all-time high of $6.2 billion, 65.9 percent higher than what we received in 2013,” he told businessmen at the 4th Annual Euromoney Philippines Investment Forum.

Aquino noted that apart from the $6.2-billion FDI, there was also a “respectable 6.1 percent Gross Domestic Product growth” last year.

He said this is an impressive feat that contributed much to the country’s economic standing in Asia.

“We have likewise posted impressive growth: from 2010 to 2013, the Philippines averaged a GDP growth of 6.3 percent. Compare this to the previous three-year period, under my predecessor, where growth was just at 4.3 percent,” he pointed out.

“On top of this: even in spite of the lingering effects of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) and the uncertainty in the global economy, our country still posted a respectable 6.1 percent GDP growth figure last year,” he stressed at the Rigodon Ballroom of The Peninsula Manila in Makati City.

Aquino also cited a Bloomberg forecast that the Philippines is expected to be the world’s second fastest growing economy in 2015.

“The tremendous amount of confidence the global community has developed for the Philippines is incredibly gratifying, especially considering that, not too long ago, we were known as the Sick Man of Asia,” he declared.