Japan dominates Philippine construction investment: report

China may soon erode Japanse funding dominance after it pledged $32.7b (US$24b) of investments for the next decade.

The Philippines continued to rely on Japanese funding in the construction market amongst other nationalities, according to a report by Fitch Solutions.

Fitch Solutions described the local construction sector as having a “healthy mix of domestic and foreign companies,” reportedly fuelled by the government’s Build, Build, Build programme and foreign-friendly policies.

Japan is the leading foreign financier of projects in the country, accounting for 40% of the share of foreign financiers. Together with China, and South Korea, the three countries lead the list of foreign investors by nationality with a combined market share of 35%.

Despite trailing behind Japan, Fitch Solutions believes that China may soon erode Japanse funding dominance after the world’s second largest economy pledged $32.7b (US$24b) of investments for the next decade.

The report also noted that the Philippines’ energy and utilities sector features a high degree of competition between local and foreign firms due to the unregulated electricity sector in the country. There is more local participation in the country’s transport sector, with 54.2% of the projects awarded to local firms.