There was a net inflow of foreign direct investments in September amounting to $166 million—a turnaround from the $2 million in net outflow reported in the same month last year, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed.

The regulator said foreign investors continued to place their bets on the strength of emerging markets like the Philippines despite uncertainties in the global economy.

In September, gross FDI inflows of $198 million exceeded the $32 million in outflows, the BSP said.

Monetary officials said the FDI recovery in September indicated a gradual increase in foreign investors’ risk appetite.

For the first three quarters of the year, FDIs registered a net inflow of $671 million. But this figure was about 33 percent lower than the $1 billion reported in the same period last year.

“[The decline] reflected the challenging global economic conditions and strains in foreign financial markets,” the BSP said in a statement.

From January to September, gross FDI inflows of $1.074 billion outstripped the reported $403 million in outflows.

Foreign direct investments in the first three quarters came mostly from investors based in the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

The sectors that benefited the most from the investments were the financial, real estate, manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors.

According to economists, the Philippines is lagging behind its neighbors—particularly Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong—in terms of attracting FDIs because of a host of problems, which include the tedious process involved in setting up a business here, unstable regulatory environment and insufficient infrastructure. But the Aquino administration has started to exert more effort to attract more foreign investments.

Measures are now being taken to trim the procedures and requirements for setting up shop in the country, said members of the Competitiveness Council, composed of representatives from the government and private sector.

Local government units and concerned government agencies are being oriented on how to rationalize procedures and requirements for companies seeking to set up shop in the country, the council said.