HOME BUSINESS TOP BUSINESS FOREIGN INVESTMENT PLEDGES JUMP IN Q2

Total foreign investment pledges approved by the six investment promotion agencies (IPAs) grew by 60.5 percent in the second quarter of the year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.

PSA said investment pledges approved by the Board of Investments (BoI), Clark Development Corp. (CDC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) amounted to P49.6 billion from P30.9 billion in the same quarter last year.

PSA said no report was submitted by the BoI-Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BoI-ARMM).

Year to date, total foreign investment pledges likewise went up by 111.5 percent to P95.6 billion in the first half from P45.2 billion a year ago.

PSA said Singapore topped the prospective investing countries during the quarter, with commitments amounting to P36.2 billion.

Japan was in second place with pledges amounting to P4 billion, followed by The Netherlands with P1.3 billion.

PSA said electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply would receive the largest amount of foreign investments at P35.7 billion.

Manufacturing came in second with investment pledges valued at P6.1 billion, followed by investments in support service activities at P3.1 billion.

“The biggest approved foreign investments in the second quarter of 2019, amounting to P41.4 billion or 83.4 percent, would be intended to finance projects in Calabarzon,” said PSA.

The second biggest, amounting to P4.2 billion was pledged to National Capital Region, followed by the P1.8-billion investment in Central Luzon.

PSA said investment commitments of foreigners and Filipinos reached P107.0 billion in the second quarter, down by 6.7 percent from previous year’s P114.7 billion. Filipinos shared 53.7 percent of the total investment pledges during the quarter.

Total amount of projects by foreign and Filipino investors during the quarter are expected to generate 30,135 jobs, down by 32.3 percent than the projected employment of 44,526 in the same quarter in 2018.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/09/06/business/business-top/foreign-investment-pledges-jump-in-q2/611887/