Foreign investments (FI) approved by the government fell by 64.4 percent to P67.38 billion in the second quarter from P189.50 billion in the same period last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.
Seven of the country’s 13 Investment Promotion Agencies approved the applications to invest in the Philippines.
They include the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), Board of Investments (BOI), Bangsamoro Board of Investments (BBOI), Clark Development Corp. (CDC), Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).
Singapore was the leading source of foreign investment pledges, amounting to P53.48 billion or 79.4 percent of the total. The US pledged P3.96 billion or 5.9 percent of the total, and the Netherlands P1.91 billion or 2.8 percent of the total.
By industry: electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply attracted P54.75 billion of investments; administrative and support service activities got P4.61 billion; and manufacturing P4.46 billion.
By region: Bicol received the highest share of investment pledges worth P32.21 billion, CALABARZON P21.39 billion, and Central Luzon 4.05 billion.
Foreign and domestic pledges
Total investment from both foreign and Filipino nationals approved in the same period reached P299.08 billion, down 58.5 percent from P720.10 billion a year earlier.
Filipino investors poured in P231.69 billion, equivalent to 77.5 percent of the total.
The PSA expects the total investment approved for the period to generate 38,234 in employment, or 41.7 percent higher than the 26,981 jobs projected from the same period in 2024.
