C. Visayas receives close to P5B in foreign pledges so far

CEBU CITY, Philippines – During the first six months of 2022, Central Visayas received close to P5 billion in foreign direct investments (FDI), latest government statistics showed.  

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recorded that foreign investments in the region reached P986,600,000 in the first quarter of this year.

Foreign pledges further grew in the succeeding quarter, with around P3.9 billion recorded in the months between April and June. 

These investments were approved by several government investment promotion agencies (IPAs) which included the Board of Investments (BOI), BOI-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BOI-BARMM), Clark Development Corp. (CDC), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza), Poro Point Management Corp. (PPMC), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), and Tourism Infrastructure Economic Zone Authority (Tieza).

In total, Central Visayas got P4,969,900,000 in FDIs from January to June 2022. It was higher by approximately 31 percent compared to the P3,633,300,000 made during the same period in 2021. 

The region posted a total of P5.4 billion in foreign investments for the entire of 2021. 

Foreign investments refer to the practice of business owners and firms of investing in a foreign country.

These commitments turn into foreign direct investments, usually involving the establishment of business interest when materialized.

Foreign-led investments in the Philippines rose 105 percent year-on-year to P46.23 billion in the second quarter, the same PSA report showed. 

More than two-fifths of the second-quarter foreign investment pledges to IPAs came from the Netherlands (P19.04-billion worth), while more than a third were from Singaporean firms (P15.89 billion). Investors from Japan pledged P6.51 billion in the same three-month period.

In terms of sectors, real estate activities cornered the bulk of the investment pledges at P19.3 billion, followed by transportation and storage (P14.52 billion) and manufacturing (P6.15 billion).

“The biggest chunk of the approved foreign investment in the second quarter of 2022 was intended to finance projects in Central Luzon amounting to P33.94 billion or 73.4 percent of the total.   This was followed by Central Visayas with P3.94 billion (8.5 percent) and Calabarzon with P3.7 billion (8 percent),” the PSA said in a statement.

The total number of approved projects by foreign and Filipino investors in the second quarter of 2022 was projected to generate at least 19,094 jobs nationwide, PSA added. / with reports from the Philippine Daily Inquirer 

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