Investment pledges received by the government’s investment promotion agencies climbed by 28 percent in the first six months of 2024 to P1.024 trillion from P797.70 billion a year ago, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show.
The PSA said investment commitments amounted to P309 billion in the first quarter and P717 billion in the second quarter of 2024.
Approved foreign and Filipino investments in the second quarter climbed 125.4 percent from P317.23 billion a year ago. Filipino nationals contributed P525.51 billion or 73.5 percent of the total.
Foreign investments (FI) approved in the second quarter reached P189.50 billion, up by 220.7 percent from P59.09 billion received in the same quarter of 2023.
Among the 13 investment promotion agencies (IPAs), six (6) reported foreign investment pledges in the second quarter, including the Board of Investments (BOI), BOI-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BOI-BARMM), Clark Development Corp. (CDC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (ZCSEZA).
The PSA said of the total approved foreign investments from April to June, Switzerland posted the highest investment commitment amounting to P172.04 billion or 90.8 percent. It was followed by Japan with P7.68 billion and Malaysia with P4.53 billion.
The electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply industry received the largest amount of approved foreign investments at P172.74 billion or 91.2 percent of the total approved FI in the second quarter.
This was followed by manufacturing with P12.39 billion and administrative and support service activities with P2.84 billion.
Among the regions in the country, Negros Island received the largest share of pledged investment amounting to P86.46 billion or 45.6 percent of the total approved FI in the second quarter.
This was followed by CALABARZON with P6.93 billion and Central Visayas with P4.35 billion.
The PSA said total approved investments of foreign and Filipino nationals in the second quarter were expected to generate 26,915 jobs, lower by 13.8 percent compared to the 31,218 expected employment in the same quarter of the previous year.
It said of the total generated employment, 18,135 would be absorbed by foreign investment projects.
