Total approved investments in the ICT industry during the fourth quarter of 2007 stood at PhP 6.2 billion, a big contraction of 54.8 percent from last year’s PhP 13.6 billion.   The ICT industry posted a 3.04 percent share to total investments approved during the quarter.  

Major source of investment in the ICT industry came from foreign investors who pledged PhP 5.2 billion for the quarter, a 26.9 percent increase from previous year’s PhP 4.1 billion. Investment pledges of Filipino nationals in the ICT industry dipped to PhP 0.96 billion from a high PhP 9.5 billion in 2006, or a 90 percent contraction during the quarter.

Table 1 - Approved investments in ICT, by foreign and Filipino nationals
Fourth Quarter 2006 and 2007 (in million pesos)

Of the total PhP 6.2 billion approved investments in ICT for the quarter, 99.9 percent are intended to finance IT services projects.  The remaining 0.1 percent goes to the manufacture of electronic goods.  Compared to the other sub-industries of ICT, IT services consistently received investment pledges from both foreign and Filipino nationals every quarter.  A major chunk of the investments intended for IT services came from the USA.

The IT services sub industry is seen to be the biggest provider of jobs from ICT investments approved in the fourth quarter of 2007, as it is expected to provide 99.9 percent of the projected jobs.  Total projected employment for the quarter stands at 11,312 or 27.8 percent lower than last year’s 15,669 jobs.