Total foreign investments (FI) approved in the third quarter of 2018 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 45.9 billion. This was 6.5 percent higher compared with PhP 43.0 billion during the third quarter of 2017. Meanwhile, the total approved FI for the first nine months of the year reached PhP 91.0 billion or an increase of 8.2 percent from PhP 84.1 billion of the same period last year.

The top three prospective investing countries for the third quarter of 2018 are British Virgin Islands, Malaysia, and USA. British Virgin Islands committed PhP 15.5 billion while Malaysia and USA pledged PhP 10.7 billion and PhP 4.5 billion of the total approved FI, respectively. This represents 33.8 percent(British Virgin Islands), 23.3 percent (Malaysia) and 9.8 percent (USA), respectively, of the total foreign investments during the quarter of 2018.

Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply would receive the largest amount of approved foreign investments in the third quarter of 2018 at PhP 16.1 billion or 35.0 percent share. Real Estate Activities came in second with PhP 11.8 billion or 25.6 percent share, followed by Manufacturing at PhP 7.6 billion or 16.6 percent share.

In terms of location, majority of the approved foreign investments in the third quarter of 2018 amounting to PhP 15.5 billion or 33.7 percent would be intended to finance projects in Northern Mindanao Region (Region X). Central Luzon Region (Region III) would receive the second highest amount at PhP 13.5 billion, representing 29.5 percent of the total. This was followed by the National Capital Region at PhP 8.3 billion or 18.2 percent of the total investments.

Approved combined investments of Foreign and Filipino nationals reached PhP 259.7 billion in the third quarter of 2018, a decline of 5.3 percent compared with the PhP 274.4 billion in the previous year. Filipino nationals shared PhP 213.9 billion worth of pledges or 82.3 percent of the total.

Investments of Foreign and Filipino investors approved by the seven IPAs for the third quarter of 2018 are expected to generate 41,797 jobs. Out of these anticipated jobs, 87.6 percent would come from projects with foreign interest.

LISA GRACE S. BERSALES, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General