The Philippines posted a surge in foreign investment in the third quarter of 2024, reflecting growing confidence in the country's manufacturing sector and overall economic prospects.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the total approved foreign investments (FI) reached P146.75 billion from July to September, a 434.4 percent surge from only P27.46 billion in the same period in 2023.
During the quarter, six Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) have documented foreign investment pledges.
These agencies include the Board of Investments (BOI), the BOI for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Clark Development Corp., Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
South Korea emerged as the top investor with a commitment of P53.72 billion, followed by Switzerland at P51.84 billion and Japan at P15.96 billion.
Data from the PSA showed that the manufacturing industry attracted the largest share of foreign investments, amounting to P70.57 billion. The electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply sector followed with P51.92 billion, and real estate activities with P13.13 billion.
CALABARZON led the regions in attracting foreign investments, securing P58.86 billion, followed by the Bicol Region with P51.84 billion and Central Luzon with P15.20 billion.
The PSA added that the total approved investments from both foreign and Filipino nationals reached P541.29 billion, a 542.1 percent increase year-on-year.
Filipino nationals contributed P394.54 billion.
These investments are projected to generate 33,727 jobs, with foreign investment projects accounting for 19,265 of those positions.
Meanwhile, top business leaders stressed that stable policies and respect for contracts are essential for driving economic growth and investment in 2025.
At the Pilipinas Conference 2024 led by the Stratbase Group, Ayala Corp. Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala stressed the importance of “upholding the sanctity of contracts and ensuring long term policy stability to encourage more investments in the country.”
“I have always been a great believer that private capital should be used extensively to address some of the public sector pain points in the country. For that, you need an environment that is friendly to that type of collaboration between the public and private sector,” Zobel de Ayala said.
He further explained that stable and consistent policies, along with respecting contracts, will attract private capital to key sectors of the country.
Likewise, Stratbase Group President Dindo Manhit stressed the importance of government-private sector collaboration to drive economic growth.
Manhit said, “the government sets the direction and creates the enabling environment, while the private sector brings in the capital, innovation, and efficiency needed to implement large-scale projects and be a reliable driver for new industries that support a multitude of linked businesses.”
Prime Infrastructure President and CEO Guillaume Lucci said the main challenge in infrastructure development lies in implementing policies at the local level.
“I don't think national policies are really the problem, frankly. I think what happens often is there's a little bit of a disconnect between sophisticated quality national policies and how they get implemented at the local level,” Lucci said.
“If there is one area of bottleneck, I would say that is the implementation of those policies at the LGU [local government unit] level,” he added.
Meanwhile, ACCIONA Infrastructure CEO Jose Diaz-Caneja said “there is a need to ensure that policies and projects apply in the long term, not just in one administration.”
“I think it's a question of having a little bit longer vision and not just looking at what you have in front of you. Not thinking in electoral periods, because infrastructures cannot be linked to these short periods,” Diaz-Caneja explained.
Diaz-Caneja explained that “if we are thinking of developing the relevant infrastructure that would have an effect in the lives of people, we need to be thinking in a much, much longer term,” thus agreement across administrations and political parties is crucial.