Approved FDIs grew by 30.6% to P256B in ’11

The total approved foreign direct investments in the country reached P256.1 billion in 2011, growing by 30.6 percent from the previous year’s level, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

NSCB said this was the highest level of FDI approved in a single year since 1996.

NSCB Secretary General Romulo Virola said Monday FDI applications last year also exceeded the P241.1 billion recorded in 1997, before the Asian financial crisis hit.

Virola said that of the total FDI in 2011, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) accounted for P193.6 billion while the Board of Investments (BoI) recorded investment commitments worth P23.2 billion.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) registered P20.3 billion worth of FDIs; Clark Development Corp. (CDC), P18.8 billion; and the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), P100 million.

“SBMA registered the highest increase, expanding by almost four times the P5.3 billion approved in 2010,” Virola said.

Investments registered with PEZA grew by 36.2 percent and with BoI, by 4.1 percent.

Foreign investment commitments for the Clark Freeport declined by 28.4 percent.

In terms of country of origin, Japan accounted for P77.4 billion of the FDIs approved, accounting for 30.2 percent of last year’s total.

Investment commitments from investors based in the United States reached P70.4 billion, or 27.5 percent of total, while P28.3 billion, or 11.1 percent, came from the Netherlands.

“A total of 140,701 jobs are expected to be generated from the FDI projects approved in 2011, up by 48.5 percent from the previous year’s projected employment of 94,728,” Virola said.

Of the jobs expected from the FDI commitments, PEZA accounts for the most with 75 percent of the total, or 105,561 new jobs. This was 41 percent higher than the 2010 level.

Virola added that the BoI-approved FDI projects were expected to generate 26,988 jobs, or 19.2 percent of total; CDC, 6,880 jobs, or 4.9 percent; SBMA and AFAB, a combined 1,272 jobs.

“All investment promotion agencies, except the SBMA, posted increases in projected employment, with the BoI recording the highest increase at 104.3 percent from 13,208 jobs in 2010 to 26,988 jobs last year,” he said.

“SBMA suffered a setback, declining by 52.3 percent.”