Foreign investment pledges hit P394.45B in Q4 2023, up 127.2% — PSA

The Philippines secured nearly P400 billion worth of foreign investment commitments in the last quarter of 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.

In a statement, the PSA said approved foreign investment pledges by the country’s investment promotion agencies reached P394.45 billion during the October to December 2023 period.

This was higher by 127.2% than the P173.61 billion worth of investment commitments secured in the same period of 2022.

The approved foreign investments during the period came from the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), Board of Investments (BOI), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

For the same period, the PSA said no foreign investment approvals were reported by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), BOI-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BOI-BARMM), Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC), Poro Point Management Corporation (PPMC), Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), and Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (ZCSEZA).

Of the total foreign investment pledges, the PSA said the Netherlands posted the highest investment commitment amounting to P345.76 billion or 87.7%.

It was followed by Japan with P31.37 billion of investments pledged, and Singapore with P4.99 billion.

Japan and Singapore accounted for 8% and 1.3%, respectively, of the total approved foreign investments during the fourth quarter of 2023.

Moreover, the PSA said the electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply industry received the largest amount of approved investments at P335.87 billion or 85.1% of the total.

Manufacturing followed with P48.96 billion and administrative and support service activities with P5.70 billion, with a share of 12.4% and 1.4%, respectively.

Among the regions in the country, the Bicol Region received the largest share of pledged investments amounting to P162.92 billion or 41.3% of the total.

This was followed by Eastern Visayas with P108.30 billion and Ilocos Region with P58.52 billion, accounting for 27.5% and 14.8%, respectively.

Meanwhile, approved investments from Filipino nationals amounted to P190.96 billion, accounting for 32.6% of the total approved investments of P585.15 billion during the period.

The total approved investments from foreign and Filipino nationals grew by 20.8% from P484.53 billion in the same quarter of 2022.

The combined investment commitments of foreign and local investors are expected to generate a total of 28,529 employment.

The PSA said out of the total expected employment generation, 23,596 employment would be absorbed by foreign investment projects. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News