Total foreign investments (FI) approved in the fourth 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 91.2 billion. This is four-fold higher compared with PhP 21.6 billion in the previous year. Meanwhile, total approved FI for 2018 reached PhP 179.0 billion, an increase of 69.3 percent from PhP 105.7 billion in 2017.

The top three prospective investing countries for the last quarter of 2018 include China, Singapore, and Japan. China committed PhP 48.0 billion or 52.6 percent of the total approved investments during the quarter. Singapore and Japan pledged PhP 15.3 billion and PhP 4.8 billion, or 16.7 percent and 5.2 percent of the total approved FI, respectively.

Manufacturing would receive the largest amount of foreign investments approved in the last quarter of 2018 with PhP 58.8 billion or 64.5 percent share. Electricity, Gas, Steam, and Air Conditioning Supply came in second with investment pledges valued at PhP 13.3 billion or 14.6 percent share. Administrative and Support Service Activities followed with investment pledges of PhP 6.9 billion or 7.6 percent share.

By region, majority of the approved foreign investments in the fourth quarter of 2018 would be intended to finance projects in Region X - Northern Mindanao amounting to PhP 47.5 billion or 52.1 percent. Region IVA - CALABARZON would receive the second highest amount at PhP 20.3 billion, representing 22.3 percent. This was followed by the National Capital Region at PhP 13.1 billion or 14.3 percent.

Approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals reached PhP 605.1 billion in the last quarter of 2018, up by 114.2 percent compared with PhP 282.5 billion in the same period in the previous year. Filipino nationals continued to dominate the investments approved during the quarter, sharing 84.9 percent or PhP 513.9 billion worth of pledges.

Total projects of foreign and Filipino investors approved by the seven IPAs for the fourth quarter of 2018 are expected to generate 72,630 jobs. Out of the total anticipated jobs for the period, 66.9 percent would come from projects with foreign interest.

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

RPB/VRI/ASB