FDI surges in third quarter

Investment pledges made by foreign entities in the third quarter jumped by double digits, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

The agency said the projects approved by the government’s four investment promotion agencies (IPAs) reached P19 billion, 82.9 percent higher than the P10.4-billion worth of projects approved in the third quarter of last year. This led the government to record P79.4 billion worth of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the third quarter, more than double the P34.3 billion registered in the same period last year.

The country’s key promotion agencies are the Board of Investments (BOI), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

Among the four IPAs, BOI—which contributed 48 percent of total pledges—posted the highest increase in FDI applications when these surged from P100 million last year to P9.1 billion in 2010.

BOI was followed by PEZA, which registered an increase of 19.2 percent after a 50.7 percent rise in applications for P9.6-billion worth of investment pledges.

CDC and SBMA suffered setbacks as investment commitments coursed through them declined by 89.9 percent and 80.6 percent, respectively.

The NSCB said the top prospective investing countries in the third quarter include Japan, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

The bulk of the approved FDIduring the period would be projects in the manufacturing, as well as electricity, gas and water industries. Investments in manufacturing made up 63.4 percent or P12 billion of the total while those in the electricity, gas, and water industries   comprised 24.2 percent or P4.6 billion.

A total of 21,154 jobs are expected to be generated from the approved FDI, up by 49 percent from last year’s projected employment of 14,198.

A total of 68,809 jobs are expected to be generated from the FDI projects approved in the first nine months, or 9.6 percent higher than last year’s 62,800 job prospects.

Japan, the country’s constant source of FDI, led all other countries as it pledged 33.2 percent of the total commitments during the third quarter at P6.3 billion. This amount is 49.percent higher than the P4.2 billion it pledged in the same period last year.

Majority of Japan’s commitments are intended to fund projects in manufacturing, a great portion of which would go to the production of electronic products.

Trailing behind are the Netherlands and Switzerland, pledging P5.6 billion and P4.4 billion, respectively, for 29.4 and 22.9 percent shares in the total FDI approved in the third quarter.

The combined approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals in the third quarter rose 81.8 percent to P55.8 billion from P30.7 billion last year.

Pledges from Filipino nationals stood at P36.8 billion, which accounted for 66 percent of the total approved investments in the quarter.

For the first nine months, the combined approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals amounted to P320.2 billion, almost three times the P117.5 billion committed a year ago. –DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER, Manila Times