Philippine foreign investment pledges rise 328% in third quarter

Foreign investment pledges for the Philippines rose 327.9% to PHP182.4bn (US$3.6bn) in the third quarter of this year, from PHP42.6bn the previous year. The jump can be attributed to the increase in information and communication technology projects. The investment pledges from foreign investors represent the foreign-led projects approved by the country’s seven investment promotion agencies (IPAs) from the July-September period, said the Philippine Statistics Authority.
The commitments will then be reported as foreign direct investments when they materialize. The third quarter’s approved foreign investments mainly came from Singapore with a pledge of PHP135bn, followed by South Korea with PHP34.3bn and Japan with PHP3.9bn. These are expected to create over 27,000 jobs. IPA-approved foreign investment commitments in the first to third quarters were up 216.6% to PHP277.9bn, from PHP87.8bn the previous year. As of the end of September, the total investment pledges, including those from Filipino investors, increased 87.2% to PHP896.9bn from PHP479.1bn in 2018.