Approved foreign investments down 4.7%

MANILA, Philippines - Approved foreign investments declined by 4.7 percent to P86.1 billion in the first nine months of 2012 from P90.3 billion a year ago, the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) reported yesterday.

For the third quarter of 2012, approved foreign investments amounted to P17.7 billion, down 36.7 percent from the previous year’s P28 billion.

The top three investing countries for the third quarter of 2012 were Cayman Islands, Japan and Singapore.

Cayman Islands bested other countries with total investment commitments of P4.8 billion or 27.3 percent of the total for the third quarter.  This was followed by Japan and Singapore with P4.2 billion and P1.3 billion, respectively.

NSCB Secretary General Jose Ramon G. Albert said that foreign investments which are approved and registered with the investment promotion agencies (IPAs) will now be called “approved foreign investments,” replacing the term “approved foreign direct investments” used in the previous report.

“The approved foreign investments are only commitments and pledges while foreign direct investments (FDI), are actual investments being released in the balance of payments by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP),” Albert explained.

The manufacturing sector accounted for the bulk of total investments with P6.7 billion.

The electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector came in second with investment pledges valued at P4.9 billion, contributing 27.5 percent, followed by administrative and support service activities with P2.1 billion or a 11.9 percent share.