Foreigners in the second quarter of the year more than doubled their investment pledges in the Philippines, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said today.

In a report, the NSCB said foreign direct investments (FDI) registered with the country's seven investment promotion agencies (IPAs) reached P58.8 billion in the April to June period, or 160 percent more than the P22.7 billion a year ago. This brought the first-half commitments to P93.4 billion, up 127 percent from P41.2 billion last year.

FDI pertains to money that foreigners place in the country to establish a business if not expand an existing one, and so creates jobs. The data from the seven IPAs however represent mere commitments and don't entail actual fund flows, which are captured by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The seven IPAs are the Board of Investments (BOI), Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Clark Development Corp, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, BOI-Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority.

According to the NSCB, nearly three-fourths of the registered FDI in the second quarter came from the US at P43.2 billion. Japan and the Netherlands trailed behind with shares of seven percent each.

Almost three-fourths of the registered FDI would be infused into the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply industry at P43.3 billion, followed by manufacturing at P7 billion.

FDI pledges however paled in comparison with the amounts committed by Filipino nationals at P118 billion or two-thirds of the total commitments for the second quarter.

Investments pledged by Filipinos and foreigners in the second quarter promised to create 41,845 jobs, or 25 percent more than the 33,381 a year ago. Nearly eight out of every 10 jobs that would be created are in projects with foreign investment.