The total approved foreign investments (FIs) in 2021 jumped 71.5 percent, data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed, as the country gradually recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the PSA, FI pledges approved by investment promotion agencies totaled to P192.34 billion, up from P112.12 billion in 2020.
However, it is still below the pre-pandemic level of P390.11 billion recorded in 2019.
Total FIs approved in the fourth quarter of 2021 alone reached P133.47 billion, higher by three-fold compared with P36.49 billion in the same quarter of 2020.
The FI commitments for 2021 were mainly driven by investments from Singapore which accounted for 41.7 percent of the total approved FI, followed by Netherlands (14 percent) and Japan (12.7 percent).
Singapore committed P80.17 billion, while Netherlands and Japan pledged P26.9 billion and P24.47 billion, respectively.
The same countries also placed in the top three for the fourth quarter of 2021.
Information and communication industry bested all other industries as it stands to receive P144.32 billion or 75 percent of the total FI pledges in 2021.
Manufacturing came in second with investment commitments valued at P26.56 billion or 13.8 percent share, followed by administrative and support service activities with P7.29 billion or 3.8 percent FI contribution.
These three are also the top industries for the fourth quarter.
Majority of the approved FIs in 2021 amounting to P144.36 billion (75.1 percent) were intended to finance projects classified as “nationwide” or situated in different parts of the country. This was followed by Calabarzon with P20 billion (10.4 percent) and Central Luzon with P7.9 billion (4.1 percent).
Approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals amounted to P756.63 billion in 2021, down 33.6 percent from the previous year’s level of P1.14 trillion, as investments from Filipino nationals declined 45.1 percent year-on-year.
Filipino nationals however continued to dominate the investments approved during the year with a share of 74.6 percent or P564.29 billion worth of pledges.
Total approved projects of foreign and Filipino investors in 2021 were projected to generate 171,294 jobs, 22.1 percent higher from the year ago level of 140,330.
Out of the total anticipated jobs for the period, approved projects with foreign interest were projected to generate 66,251 jobs.
