Foreign IT-BPO investments continue to decline – PEZA
Total investment in the first three months of the year reached P182.83bn (USD3.5bn), up from P119.31bn recorded in the same period in 2017, according to combined data from the Board of Investments and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). However, the combined BOI-PEZA data showed that local investors made up 92.5 per cent of the total amount at P169.08bn, a 73.2 per cent rise from 2017, whereas foreign investors accounted for only P13.75bn of the total approved investments, a 36.5 per cent decline from last year. Firms from Japan topped the list, accounting for 57.2 percent of the total at P7.86 billion. Then came the United Kingdom with P1.54 billion, the Netherlands with P88 million, Singapore with P56 million and the US with P45 million.
PEZA manager for promotion and public relations Elmer San Pascual attributed the decline to concerns over the new tax reform law and the delay in rolling out new economic zones.
