THE Authority of Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) has posted 38.8 percent growth rate in foreign investment (FI) last 2021.
This was mentioned by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in its recent report.
For his part, AFAB administrator Engr. Emmanuel Pineda said that the passage of Republic Act 11453 or “An Act Further Strengthening the Powers and Functions of the Freeport of Bataan” that amended the AFAB’s Charter under RA 9728, the AFAB now has strengthened powers and functions that allows for the establishment of the FAB’s expansion areas, which has targeted 17 areas in Bataan.
The PSA also mentioned that the FI pledges for Clark Development Corp
(CDC) in 2021 was valued at P 3.68 billion, a 43.1 percent upturn compared to its data in 2020 at P2.57 billion. Meanwhile, there is also a 16.2 percent growth in the number of Filipino investments for CDC.
It was also revealed that Clark Development Corporation holds the third highest share of overall growth rate on approved Foreign Investments (FI) in the country for the year 2021.
The 2021 approved projects with foreign interests for the state-owned firm were projected to generate 6,690 job opportunities.
This accounts for a 40.5 percent increase in the number of committed employment compared to 2020 with an employment projection of 4,763. According to the data of PSA, other IPAs who posted positive FI contributions include Bureau of Investments (BOI) who holds the highest growth rate at 218 percent, followed by the Board of Investments in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BOI-BARMM) with 564 percent growth rate, and Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) with 38.8 percent growth rate.
The total approved FIs from all IPAs in the country were valued at P192.34 Billion, a 71.5 percent upsurge from 2020 at P112.12 billion.
These investments were predominantly from Singapore (41.7 percent), Netherlands (14 percent), and Japan (12.7 percent).
Top industries with foreign commitments are Information Communication Technology (ICT) valued at P144.32 billion which also accounts for 75 percent of the overall committed FIs in 2021; Manufacturing with P26.56 billion or 13.8 percent contribution; and Administrative and support services reported at a value of P7.29 billion or 3.8 percent share from the total foreign commitments in the Philippines.
