Foreign investment pledges down

Investment pledges made by foreign firms slid 55 percent year-on-year to P18.2 billion in the second quarter, the fourth straight quarter that commitments dropped.

In a report Friday, the Philippine Statistics Authority said foreign investments approved by seven investment promotion agencies (IPAs) from April to June declined from P40.4 billion in the same three-month period last year.

The PSA data consisted of approvals made by the following IPAs: Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, Board of Investments, BOI-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, Clark Development Corp., Philippine Economic Zone Authority and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

IPAs give away fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to investors.

Decreased pledges
As of the end of the first six months, IPA-approved foreign investments totaled P41 billion, down 38.4 percent from P66.6 billion a year ago.

To recall, foreign investment pledges fell 12.8 percent year-on-year to P22.9 billion in the first quarter. Also, approved foreign investments declined 9.3 percent year-on-year to P125.7 billion in the fourth quarter of last year after commitments dropped by a faster 45 percent to P26.7 billion in the third quarter of 2016.

It meant that foreign investors’ pledges decreased in the first four quarters of the Duterte administration.

In contrast, approved foreign investments increased 11.5 percent year-on-year to P40.4 billion in the second quarter of 2016 and climbed 19.2 percent to P26 billion in the first quarter last year.

From April to June this year, the top three sources of foreign investment pledges were Japan (P4.8 billion), Singapore (P2.4 billion) and the United States (P2 billion).

Commitments
More than a third of the total or P6.7 billion worth of approved foreign investments in the second quarter would be infused into the manufacturing sector.

Investment commitments by foreigners for administrative and support service activities reached P4.1 billion, on top of P3.8 billion for real estate projects

95,131 jobs
However, the total investment picture is not that bleak. When foreign investment pledges were combined with those made by Filipino investors, total investments approved by the seven IPAs in the second quarter jumped 29.7 percent to P230.5 billion from P177.7 billion a year ago.

Filipino-led projects amounted to P212.3 billion, equivalent to 92.1 percent of all IPA-approved investments during the April-to-June period.

The projects approved by the IPAs in the second quarter would generate 95,131 jobs, up 76.2 percent from the projected new employment of 53,998 last year.