In Q1, foreign investment pledges declined 16.3%

Total foreign direct investments (FDI) approved by five agencies declined by 16.3 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from year-ago level, data released by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) showed.

According to the NSCB, the five investment promotion agencies—Board of Investments, Clark Development Corp., Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan—received P18.4 billion in FDI commitments in the first three months of the year, down from P22 billion in the same period last year.

Japan was the top investing country in the first quarter with a 26.6-percent share of the total commitments, or P4.9 billion.

The Netherlands and the United States accounted for 12.6 percent, or P2.3 billion, and 11.5 percent, or P2.1 billion, respectively.

Manufacturing remained the top recipient of FDIs with P12 billion, followed by administrative and support service at P2.4 billion.

Approved foreign and Filipino investments fell by about 73 percent to P43.9 billion in the first quarter of 2012 from P162 billion in the same period last year.

Pledges from Filipino nationals were valued at P25.5 billion, or 58 percent of the total investments committed in the first quarter.

The NSCB said that foreign and Filipino ventures approved by the agencies were expected to generate 34,585 jobs, down 17.2 percent from 41,780 jobs in the same period last year.

Out of these expected jobs, 93.4 percent or 32,292 jobs would come from projects with foreign interest.