Total foreign investments reached P17.7B in 3Q 2012

Total foreign investments approved in the third quarter of 2012 by investment promotion agencies reached P17.7 billion — a 36.7-percent drop from the P28 billion recorded in the same period of 2011. Most of the investments came from Cayman Islands, which pledged P4.8 billion or a 27.3-percent share during the quarter. Following behind are Japan and Singapore, which committed P4.2 billion and P 1.3 billion, or 23.7 percent and 7.4 percent of the total approved foreign investment, respectively, during the quarter.   On the other hand, the total approved foreign investments for the first nine months of 2012 reached P86.1 billion, down by 4.7 percent from P90.3 billion during the same period in 2011.   The investments update was collated from the summed up reports of the Board of Investments (BOI), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) as well as the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), Board of Investments-Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BOI-ARMM), and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA). Among the local industries, manufacturing remained the number one industry to receive investments as its share to total foreign commitments reached P6.7 billion or 37.6 percent share during the quarter.    It was followed by electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, with investment pledges valued at P4.9 billion, contributing 27.5 percent, followed by administrative and support service activities at P2.1 billion or 11.9 percent share.   Approved investments of foreign and Filipino companies reached P150.3 billion in the third quarter of 2012, a decrease of 24 percent from the previous year’s P197.9 billion.   Filipino nationals continued to dominate investments approved during the quarter, sharing 88.2 percent or P132.6 billion worth of pledges.    Bulk of the investments committed by foreign and Filipino nationals in the third quarter of 2012 are intended to finance activities in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, contributing P54.8 billion or 36.5 percent share, followed by real estate activities  at P45.7 billion or 30.4 percent share, and manufacturing at P20.2 billion or 13.5 percent share.    These proposed projects are expected to create 33,295 jobs, which is lower by 18.5 percent from previous year’s projected employment of 40,860 jobs in the same period.  Out of these anticipated jobs, 75.9 percent would come from projects with foreign interest. — KBK, GMA News