MANILA, Philippines—Foreign investments in the Philippines rose by 189 percent during the last first five months and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) attributed the renewed investor confidence to government’s fight against graft and corruption.

Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo said that business confidence is high and the gross domestic product (GDP), foreign investment figures and export figures are continuously increasing.

Investments rose to almost P300 billion during the first five months of this year, up 189 percent from P90 billion last year, said Domingo.

Investment pledges at the Board of Investment (BoI) hit P191.35 billion in the first five months this year — a 338-percent surge from the previous year’s P43.65 billion while investment commitments at the Philippine Economic Zones rose 48 percent as of May, to P68.59 billion, up from the P46.35 billion reported in the same period last year, he said.

Domingo said that the two investment promotion agencies approved a total of 390 projects since May. Once fully operational, the projects are expected to generate 74,266 jobs.

Of the foreign investors, the Netherlands posted P7.44 billion investments in the first five months, P7.13 billion worth of investment pledges from the Americans, while Japanese firms added P6.45 billion.

Domingo also said that the BoI and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority also had P3.79 billion in investment commitments from South Korean investors, P1.3 billion from Singaporean firms, and P1.12 billion from British groups.