Foreign investments jump 71% last year
Approved foreign investments jumped last year amid improving economic condition despite the prolonged pandemic, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed.
Based on the PSA report on Tuesday, Feb. 15, total foreign investments reached P192.34 billion from January to December last year, up by 71 percent compared with P112.12 billion in the previous year.
Investment commitments from Singapore accounted for the bulk of the total amounting to P80.17 billion, followed by the Netherlands with P26.9 billion, Japan with P24.47 billion, among others.
These investment pledges were from seven investment promotion agencies, namely: Board of Investments, BOI-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Clark Development Corporation, and Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
They also include Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority and Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan.
In the fourth-quarter alone, foreign investments approved reached P133.8 billion, higher by threefold compared with P36.49 billion in the same period in 2020.
Commitments during quarter of 2021 mainly driven by investments from Singapore which accounted for 59.4 percent of the total, followed by Netherlands (18.4 percent) and Japan (1.1 percent).
Singapore committed P79.30 billion in the quarter ending December, while Netherlands and Japan pledged P24.54 billion and P1.44 billion, respectively.
Information and Communication industry bested all other industries as it stands to receive P127.17 billion or 95.3 percent of the total pledges.
Manufacturing came in second with investment commitments valued at P2.13 billion or 1.6 percent share, followed by Administrative and Support Service Activities with P2.08 billion or 1.6 percent investment contribution.
Meanwhile, approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals declined in 2021 by percent from P756.62 billion from P1.139 trillion in the previous year.
Total approved projects were projected to generate 171,294 jobs.
In 2021, the Philippine economy expanded more quickly than expected, growing by 5.6 percent from a 7.7 percent contraction in the previous year.
Last year’s gross domestic product performance slightly bested the government’s target of 5.0 percent to 5.5 percent.