CEBU CITY, Philippines — Foreign investment pledges in Central Visayas slightly recovered during the first quarter this year, based on latest data from the state statistics bureau.
Between January and March, the region received ₱455.27 million in approved foreign investments, higher than the ₱382.60 million posted during the last quarter of 2025, reports from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.Â
The figure was also higher compared to the ₱337 million recorded during the same period last year.
READ MORE: Foreign investment pledges soar to P189.5B in Q2
Central Visayas accounted for 1.1 percent of the country’s total approved foreign investments in the first quarter of 2026.
Despite the year-on-year increase, foreign investment approvals in the region remained significantly lower than the ₱3.72 billion peak recorded in the second quarter of 2025.
Foreign pledges are considered a key economic indicator as they reflect investor confidence and future business activity that could generate employment, infrastructure development, and economic expansion in the region.
Total investments
In the meantime, total approved investments, including both foreign and Filipino investments, in Central Visayas amounted to ₱9.85 billion in the first quarter of the year.Â
This was slightly lower by 1.3 percent compared to the ₱9.99 billion approved investments recorded in the same quarter in 2025.
The region’s total approved investments reached their highest level in the fourth quarter of 2025 at ₱18.85 billion.
Nationwide, total foreign investments went up by over 50 percent in the first quarter of the year, amounting to ₱42.64 billion.
These investment pledges were from seven Investment Promotion Agencies:
- the Bases Conversion and Development Authority,
- Board of Investments,
- Clark Development Corporation,
- Cagayan Economic Zone Authority,
- Clark International Airport Corporation,
- Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and
- Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.
South Korea was the biggest source of investment pledges, amounting to ₱25.37 billion.Â
Singapore followed with ₱3.18 billion and China with ₱2.54 billion.
The PSA said arts, entertainment, and recreation had the largest share of total foreign investment pledges, amounting to ₱10.38 billion. This was followed by manufacturing with ₱9.08 billion and accommodation and food service activities with ₱9.07 billion.
Among the regions in the country, Central Luzon received the highest share of investment pledges. Pledges there amounted to ₱33.08 billion, followed by Calabarzon with ₱3 billion and the National Capital Region with ₱2.13 billion.
Central Visayas, on the other hand, ranked seventh. /with reports from Philippine News Agency
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