Philippines: Foreign investment increases sharply in 2015

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Foreign investment pledges approved by the Philippines’ investment promotion agencies increased by 31.2 percent to 245.2 billion PHP (5.2 billion USD) last year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

In the fourth quarter of 2015 alone, investment pledges climbed by 45.6 percent to 138.6 billion PHP (2.93 billion USD) from 95.2 billion PHP (2 billion USD) in the same period last year.

In the period, most investment went to the manufacturing sector and accounted for a 69.1 percent share, following was the electricity, gas, and administrative services.

The top three sources of approved foreign investments in the fourth quarter were Japan, the Netherlands, and the US.

Japanese pledges reached 39.4 billion PHP (838 million USD), taking a 28.5 percent share, while the Netherlands and the US accounted for 26.7 percent and 11.9 percent, respectively.

Remittances sent home by overseas Filipino workers hit a new high in 2015 with 28.5 billion USD as of the end of December, according to the Central Bank of the Philippines (BSP).

In December alone, personal remittances totalled 2.7 billion USD, rising 4.9 percent against the same month in 2014. BSP said that this has been the highest monthly amount ever.

According to BSP Govenor Amando Tetangco, remittances continued to be a “major driver of domestic demand”.

The total remittances accounted for 9.8 percent of the nation’s gross domestic products (GDP) and 8.1 percent of gross national income (GNI).-VNA