MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has potential to attract investors but has not drawn significant foreign direct investment (FDI) and has not maximized the same for economic development, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) World Investment Report 2012.
Unctad’s report showed the Philippines has the potential to attract FDIs. However, Unctad’s FDI Attraction Index—which measures the success of economies in attracting FDI (combining total FDI inflows and inflows relative to gross domestic product)—showed that the Philippines was among the countries that “received less FDI than could be expected based on economic determinants.”
Other countries in the same situation included Argentina, Slovenia and South Africa.
In terms of FDI flows, or what comes in on a yearly basis, the Philippines got only $1.2 billion in FDI for 2011 out of the $116 billion that entered Southeast Asia. Vietnam, which is often compared to the Philippines economically, got $7 billion.