Foreign investment pledges tripled in Q2

Total foreign direct investments (FDI) approved by major investment promotion agencies tripled to P40.6 billion in the second quarter from the P13.8 billion recorded in the same period last year, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

The majority of pledges came from Japanese investors mainly interested in tire manufacturing, according to government documents.

Total approved FDIs for the first six months of 2011 reached P62.6 billion, up 3.5 percent from last year’s P60.5 billion, the NSCB said. This was the consolidated figure from four major investment promotion agencies, namely, Board of Investments, Clark Development Corp., Philippine Economic Zone Authority and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

Arsenio M. Balisacan, dean and professor of the University of the Philippines School of Economics, welcomed the increase in approved investments for the second quarter. However, he noted that pledged investments, even if they push through, would not immediately boost the economy.

“Approved [investment] is very different from actual. Those approved investment may not materialize,” Balisacan said.

In the NSCB report on FDIs approved in the second quarter, Japan topped all other countries with investment pledges of P17.5 billion.

The Japanese-committed investments, which accounted for 43.2 percent of the total FDIs during the quarter, was a big improvement from the P700 million committed in the same period last year.

Other top sources of FDI were the United States (P8.2 billion, or 20.3-percent of total FDIs) and the Netherlands (P7.2 billion, or 17.7-percent share).

NSCB Secretary General Romulo A. Virola said in the NSCB report that manufacturing was still the top recipient of FDI commitments as it stood to receive P26.4 billion. Trailing were real-estate activities as well as electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning at P5.2 billion and P4.8 billion, respectively.