Total foreign investments (FI) approved in the third quarter of 2016 by the seven investment promotion agencies (IPAs), namely: Board of Investments (BOI), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) as well as the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), BOI-Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BOI-ARMM), and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) amounted to PhP 26.7 billion,45.0 percent lower compared to the PhP 48.6 billion last year. Meanwhile, total approved FI for the first nine months of the year reached PhP 93.3 billion, a decline of 12.4 percent from PhP 106.6 billion in the previous year.

 

The top three prospective investing countries for the third quarter of 2016 include South Korea, United States of America (USA) and Singapore. South Korea committed PhP 6.5 billion or 24.3 percent share of the total investments during the quarter. The USA and the Singapore pledged PhP 4.6 billion and PhP 4.1 billion, or 17.2 percent and 15.3 percent of the total approved FI, respectively.

 

Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply would receive the largest amount of foreign investments approved in the third quarter of 2016, with PhP 13.2 billion or 49.4 percent share. Manufacturing came in second with investment pledges valued at PhP 5.1 billion or 18.9 percent share, followed by Transportation and Storage at PhP 3.5 billion or 13.2 percent share.

 

In terms of location, bulk of the approved foreign investments in the third quarter of 2016 would be intended to finance projects in the National Capital Region (NCR) amounting to PhP 5.5 billion or 20.4 percent. The next highest investments would be in Region XII - Soccsksargen at PhP 4.7 billion, representing 17.7 percent, followed by the Negros Island Region (NIR) at PhP 4.5 billion or 16.9 percent.

 

Approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals reached PhP 133.8 billion in the third quarter of 2016, down by 20.4 percent compared to last year’s approvals of PhP 168.2 billion. Filipino nationals continued to dominate the investments approved during the quarter, sharing 80.0 percent or PhP 107.1 billion worth of pledges. 

 

Total projects of foreign and Filipino investors approved by the seven IPAs for the third quarter of 2016 are expected to generate 33,590 jobs. Out of the total anticipated jobs for the period, 83.2 percent would come from projects with foreign interest. 

 

 

For the National Statistician:

 

 

(Deputy National Statistician)

Officer-in-Charge