FDI commitments hit P62.6B in H1

MANILA, Philippines—Foreign investment commitments reported in the first semester of 2012 barely grew from a year ago, data from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) showed.

According to the NSCB, the total foreign direct investments (FDIs) registered by the country’s investment promotion agencies reached P62.6 billion in the first semester, up by 0.4 percent from P62.3 billion in 2011.

In the second quarter, total FDIs registered with seven agencies—Board of Investments, Clark Development Corp., Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, BoI-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority—amounted to P44.1 billion, up by 9.4 percent from P40.3 billion a year ago.

Japan was still the top investing country with pledges worth P17.4 billion in the second quarter. The Netherlands and United States committed P9.8 billion and P4.3 billion, respectively.

Manufacturing got the bulk of the FDIs amounting to P35.4 billion in the second quarter, followed by transportation and storage (P2.5 billion) and real estate activities (P1.9 billion).

In the meantime, approved foreign and Filipino investments in the second quarter jumped 27.2 percent to P202.8 billion from P159.4 billion last year.

Investment pledges from Filipinos in the second quarter were valued at P151.2 billion, of which P95.1 billion would finance activities involving electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply, while P38.6 billion and P30.8 billion were intended for manufacturing and real estate, respectively.

The NSCB said foreign and Filipino ventures approved in the second quarter would generate 33,381 jobs, fewer than the 58,819 jobs in the same period last year. Out of these expected jobs, about 22,000 would come from projects with foreign interest.