Foreign investments approved by various investment promotions agencies reached P394.45 billion in the fourth quarter, more than double the P173.61 billion in the year-earlier period even though a number of IPAs didn’t report any approvals during the period.
The Philippine Statistics Authority said the investment pledges only came from the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, the Board of Investments, Clark Development Corp., Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
The biggest investment pledge in the fourth quarter, or a total P348.76 billion, came from the Netherlands while investors from Japan committed P31.37 billion. The bulk of those investments pledges have been committed for electricity, gas, steam, and the air conditioning supply industry for a total P335.87 billion.
Nearly half of the investment pledges that reached P162.92 billion went to the Bicol Region, while P108.3 billion was pledged to Eastern Visayas.
Meantime, approved Filipino investment pledges in the fourth quarter declined to P190.69 billion from P310.92 billion in the same period in 2022.
The combined foreign and local investments in the fourth quarter is expected to generate a total of 28,529 jobs, down 25 percent from the year-earlier period. Of the expected employment, 23,596 jobs would come from foreign investment projects.
