Total foreign investments (FI) approved in the second quarter of 2018 amounted to PhP 30.9 billion from PhP 18.2billion recorded in the same period last year. The total approved FI by five out of seven investment promotion agencies (IPAs), namely the Board of Investments (BOI), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) as well as Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) was 70.4 percent higher compared with the same period in the previous year. No reports were submitted by the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) and BOI-Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BOI-ARMM). Meanwhile, the total approved FI for the first six months of the year reached PhP 45.2 billion or an increase of 10.0 percent from PhP 41.0 billion in the previous year.

The top three prospective investing countries for the second quarter of 2018 are Indonesia, Japan, and the United States of America (USA). Pledges from Indonesia reached PhP 6.4 billion or 20.8 percent of the total FI during the quarter while Japan and USA committed PhP 5.1 billion and PhP 4.0 billion, or 16.5 percent and 12.9 percent of the total approved FI, respectively.

Manufacturing continued to be the industry that would receive the largest amount of foreign investments in the second quarter of 2018. Investment commitments for Manufacturing stood at PhP 12.8 billion or 41.5 percent share. Construction came in second with investment pledges valued at PhP 7.1 billion or 23.0 percent share. Administrative and Support Service Activities followed at PhP 5.4 billion or 17.4 percent share.

The biggest approved foreign investments in the second quarter of 2018, amounting to PhP 12.9 billion or 41.6 percent, would be intended to finance projects in the National Capital Region (NCR). The second biggest, amounting to PhP 8.0 billion or 25.7 percent, was pledged to CALABARZON. Central Luzon followed with PhP 4.3 billion or 13.8 percent approved FI.

Investment commitments of foreign and Filipino nationals reached PhP 114.7 billion in the second quarter of 2018, down by 50.2 percent from previous year’s PhP 230.4 billion. Filipino nationals shared 73.0 percent of the total investment pledges during the quarter.