Total foreign investments (FI) approved in the first quarter of 2022 reached PhP 8.98 billion, -54.1 percent lower compared with PhP 19.55 billion in the same period in 2021. These investments were pledges from six investment promotion agencies (IPAs), namely: Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), Board of Investments (BOI), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). No investment approvals were reported from BOI-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BOI-BARMM) for first quarter of years 2021 and 2022. (Figure 1 and Table 2)

The FI commitments for the first quarter of 2022 were mainly driven by investments from Japan which accounted for 39.7 percent of the total approved FI, followed by South Korea (18.5%) and Singapore (18.2%). Japan committed PhP 3.56 billion, while South Korea and Singapore pledged PhP 1.66 billion and PhP 1.63 billion, respectively. (Table 3)

Manufacturing bested all other industries as it stands to receive PhP 5.15 billion or 57.4 percent of the total FI pledges. Electricity, Gas, Steam, and Airconditioning Supply came in second with investment commitments valued at PhP 1.66 billion or 18.5 percent share, followed by Administrative and Support Service Activities with PhP 977.37 million or 10.9 percent FI contribution. (Table 4)

Majority of the approved foreign investments in the first quarter of 2022 is intended to finance projects in CALABARZON amounting to PhP 4.87 billion or 54.2 percent of the total. This was followed by Cagayan Valley with PhP 1.66 billion (18.5%), and Central Visayas with PhP 986.59 million (11.0%). (Table 5)

Approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals reached PhP 190.57 billion in the first quarter of 2022, an increased of 15.6 percent compared with PhP 164.89 billion in the same period of the previous year. Filipino nationals continued to dominate the approved investments during the quarter, posting PhP 181.59 billion worth of investment pledges or 95.3 percent share . (Tables 7 and 8)

Total approved projects of foreign and Filipino investors in the first quarter of 2022 were projected to generate 14,416 jobs. Out of the total anticipated jobs for the period, approved projects with foreign interest were projected to generate 9,655 jobs based on the reports of IPAs. (Tables 6 and 11)

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

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