MANILA, Philippines – International business groups have advised the Philippines to re-examine some of its policies to attract the inflow of more foreign direct investments (FDI) in the country.

The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) has expressed concern about the slowdown of the country’s FDI inflows in recent months.

“The Philippines did a great job last year at over $6 billion but we’re somewhat concerned that that number has fallen by almost 50 percent in the first four months this year,” AmCham senior advisor John Forbes said.

The country’s FDIs plunged 43 percent year-on-year in April to $382 million, according to a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas report earlier this month.

In 2014, FDIs soared to a record high $6.201 billion from $3.737 billion in 2013.

“So I think that’s a reason for some re-examination about what the Philippines has been doing. There are still more reforms needed, it is a competitive world we’re living,” Forbes said.

He said it is important for countries in Southeast Asia, being the region with the fastest growing economy in the world, to get the most in foreign investments.

“Foreign investment in Vietnam is quite remarkable. It is now the number one exporter in this region to the US and is capturing the lion’s share of the relocation of investment from China. The Philippines can capture more,” he said.

The European Union-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (EU-Asean) Business Council, for its part, said access to markets in Asean is an important factor in encouraging greater investment.

With Europe already the region’s largest source of FDI, the EU-Asean Business Council in a report stressed the need to open up markets even further, with the elimination of non-tariff barriers to trade on top of the list.

The EU-Asean Business Council said the”cumbersome customs procedures with little harmonization across Asean” and “unpredictable application of regulations and procedures” have impacted the ability of businesses to make informed long term investment decisions in Asean countries.

Likewise, the group said restrictions on foreign ownership and foreign competition as well as lack of harmonized standards across the region have limited the ability of businesses from Asean or elsewhere to trade effectively with partners across Southeast Asia.

‘’The latest trade and investment statistics underscore the importance of the commercial relationship between our two dynamic regions. The EU-ASEAN Business Council’s market access position paper outlines a number of policies which, if implemented, could substantially boost intra-Asean trade and investment as well as between the EU and ASEAN,” EU-Asean Business Council executive director Chris Humphrey said.