Investments

Total investments in the country decreased 32.04 percent last year as businesses reeled from the impact of the global financial crisis, the Trade Department said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investments (FDIs) managed a 5.5- percent growth in the first 11 months of last year despite plunging by 61 percent in November due to weak equity placements and higher withdrawals, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

A visiting British trade official yesterday warned that the Philippines stands to lose more foreign investments to its Southeast Asian neighbors if the government fails to institute economic reforms and strategies that will boost the country’s attractiveness in the world market.

SLOWLY RECOVERING FROM LAST YEAR’S slump, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority has approved almost P13.6 billion worth of new investments in January, 60.9 percent higher than the P8.4 billion reported in the same month last year.

Hitachi is looking to expand in the Philippines, where it plans to tap Filipino talent in production and design, executives of the Japanese conglomerate said during a media briefing on Monday.

THE Board of Investments (BOI) is dropping the “contingency list” from the 2010 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), after the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) declared that the economic crisis ended last year.

MANILA, Philippines – Crisis-hit firms that retain or hire more workers may not be eligible for tax perks this year after all as the Board of Investments (BoI) has reversed an earlier policy decision.

MANILA, Philippines–After getting huge investments from large foreign firms last year despite the recession, the Department of Trade and Industry is confident that the country will get more infusions this year as the global economy has already started to recover.

Investor confidence in the Philippines has dropped to the second worst among 10 countries in the pan-Asia region based on the latest survey of global financial services giant ING.

MANILA, Philippines –  Investment commitments from the Board of Investments (BOI) are expected to expand by 10 percent this year after dropping significantly in 2009, a high ranking official said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines shrugged off the global recession and posted a net portfolio investments inflow of $388.02 million last year, a complete turnaround from the $1.784 billion outflow posted in 2008.

The Board of Investments plans to remove the fiscal incentives granted to high-rise housing and condominium development projects from the annual Investment Priorities Plan for failing to address the country’s housing backlog.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows posted a double digit growth in the first 10 months of last year due to stronger equity capital inflows and higher reinvested earnings, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. reported yesterday.

THE upcoming national elections may put potential investors on a “wait-and-see” stance, Trade Secretary Peter Favila warned. “[The influx of investments] this year will depend on the outcome of the elections—who is the next president and the credibility of the polls,” he told reporters Friday night.

MANILA, Philippines – Investments in the country’s economic zones are expected to rise by 15 percent to surpass the P200-billion mark this year.

The additional tax and fiscal incentives being offered by the Board of Investments (BoI) to entice companies affected by the global financial crisis to undertake activities to keep their workers, maintain their workforce and hire more even with the economic difficulties failed to attract a single taker.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign portfolio investments posted a net inflow of $415.3 million as of Dec. 19 as foreign investors remained upbeat on the Philippine market, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Good corporate governance among listed firms matter to stock market investors, a recent study by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) revealed.

FAMILY FACTOR: The Expat Explorer survey of HSBC was conducted last February to April among respondents from the US, Europe and elsewhere who have lived in more than two dozen countries and on four continents.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) to the Philippines is expected to grow moderately next year amid a fragile global economic recovery, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to jump 20 percent next year on the back of a gradual recovery by the global economy.

MANILA, Philippines – The amount of committed investments registered at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) grew 13.3 percent this year as electronics companies continued to expand despite the impact of the global financial crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investments (FDI) in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone dropped by more than 67 percent for the first 11 months of the year to $73.82 million, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) reported.

MANILA, Philippines – The Board of Investments (BOI) reported over the weekend that investments went down this year when compared to the previous year, underscoring the possibility that the agency will be missing its investment target for the year.

TAIPEI: Investments infused by Taiwanese investors into the Philippines this year more than doubled compared to last year, according to the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO).

SM Prime Holdings Inc. has allotted P180 million to build 36 lounge facilities designed to attract overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families to SM Supermalls nationwide.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday that foreign portfolio investments inflow registered in the first 11 months of the year amounted to $431.42 million on the back of sustained remittances, strong international reserves, healthy banking system, robust corporate earnings, and rising price of gold.

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investments (FDI) climbed by 6.8 percent in the first nine months of the year amid higher equity infusions and robust reinvested earnings, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

Britain’s top envoy to the Philippines yesterday warned that the Philippines stands to lose more foreign investments to its Asian neighbors if the government fails to immediately institute economic reforms and strategies that will boost the country’s competitiveness in the world market.

MANILA, Philippines – Portfolio investments posted a net inflow of $328.3 million in the first 10 months of the year as foreign investors remained upbeat on the Philippine market, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.