Foreign investments recover in 2021

Foreign investments recovered last year as the economy was more open, but overall resources being poured into the country remain on a decline, the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

PSA data showed that foreign firms slowly returned much-needed capital for economic recovery for the whole of 2021.

Approved foreign investments last year rose by 71.5 percent to hit P192.34 billion from the 2020 level of P112.12 billion.

In the fourth quarter alone, approved investments soared by nearly 270 percent to P133.47 billion from the P36.49 billion in the same period in 2020.

The government was most lenient in restrictions during the last quarter as it took advantage of the holiday season, especially as COVID-19 cases dropped.

The economy was also more open in 2021 as the government tried to avoid widescale lockdown measures that would stall needed rebound.

However, the PSA data showed that total investments from both foreign and Filipinos dropped 34 percent to P756.63 billion from P1.14 trillion in 2020. About 75 percent of this came from local investors.

Still, the percentage of foreign investment to total also jumped to 25.4 percent last year from nine percent in 2020.

Investment commitments were filed at the Board of Investments (BOI), BOIBangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Clark Development Corp., Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority.

The BOI got the largest share at almost 80 percent to hit P152 billion in 2021.

Of the 17 regions in the country, only Zamboanga Peninsula did not register any foreign investments.