Total foreign investments (FI) approved in the second quarter of 2022 amounting to PhP 46.23 billion is more than double compared with PhP 22.50 billion reported in the same quarter of 2021. These investments were pledges from five Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs), namely: Board of Investments (BOI), BOI-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BOI-BARMM), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). No foreign investment approvals were reported from Poro Point Management Corporation (PPMC) and Tourism Infrastructure Economic Zone Authority (TIEZA) for the second quarter of years 2021 and 2022. (Figure 1 and Table 2)

In response to the efforts to expand the coverage of the quarterly compilation of approved investment, PPMC and TIEZA submitted their quarterly report to PSA for the first time. TIEZA reported approved foreign investment for the first quarter and fourth quarter of 2021 totaling to  PhP 206.29 million, while PPMC had a total of PhP 5.00 million approved investment by Filipino nationals in the first quarter of 2022. (Tables 2 and 7)

The FI commitments for the second quarter of 2022 were mainly driven by investments from Netherlands, which accounted for 41.2 percent of the total approved FI, followed by Singapore (34.4%) and Japan (14.1%). Netherlands committed PhP 19.04 billion, while Singapore and Japan pledged PhP 15.89 billion and PhP 6.51 billion, respectively.  (Table 3)

Real Estate Activities bested all other industries as it stands to receive PhP 19.30 billion or 41.7 percent of the total FI pledges. Transportation and Storage came in second with investment commitments valued at PhP 14.52 billion or 31.4 percent share, followed by Manufacturing with PhP 6.15 billion or 13.3 percent FI contribution.  (Table 4)

The biggest chunk of the approved foreign investment in the second quarter of 2022 was intended to finance projects in Central Luzon amounting to PhP 33.94 billion or 73.4 percent of the total FI. This was followed by Central Visayas with PhP 3.94 billion (8.5%) and CALABARZON with PhP 3.70 billion (8.0%).  (Table 5)

Approved investment of foreign and Filipino nationals reached PhP 99.61 billion in the second quarter of 2022 or an increase of 17.4 percent compared with PhP 84.85 billion in the same quarter of the previous year. Filipino nationals continued to dominate the approved investments during the quarter, posting PhP 53.38 billion worth of investment pledges or 53.6 percent share. (Tables 7 and 8)

Total approved projects of foreign and Filipino investors in the second quarter of 2022 were projected to generate 19,094 employment. Out of the total anticipated employment for the period, approved projects with foreign interest were projected to generate 12,626 employment 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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