PEZA board approves Palawan Mega Ecozone Project

The Board of Directors of PEZA led by its Chairperson and DTI Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque recently approved the Palawan Mega Ecozone, the first and largest of its kind in the Philippines. Considered as one of its most important projects under the Administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the mega development is a joint PEZA-BuCor undertaking, where idle land of BuCor would be turned into job creating eco-friendly industrial estates.

The Palawan Mega Ecozone will comprise 28,000 hectares in the Iwahig Penal Colony of BuCor just beside Puerto Princesa City. An initial 4,000 hectares has been transferred to PEZA as Phase 1 for conversion into the approved PMEZ. Moreover, the grant of pre-qualification for the declaration of a 4,000-hectare property located in Barangays Montible and Sta. Lucia, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan has also been approved for development.

The Palawan Mega Ecozone is seen to revive the BIMP-EAGA trade Zone. PMEZ is an immediate response to the instructions of the President of promoting stronger trade ties among ASEAN member states in view of the US tariffs.

According to Director General Panga, “The Palawan Mega Ecozone is envisioned to attract environmentally responsible industries such as agro-industrial processing, renewable energy, eco-tourism, and marine biotechnology. This will not only preserve Palawan’s rich biodiversity but will also uplift the livelihood of local communities through jobs and infrastructure development!”

The same Board meeting saw the creation of a technical working group composed of government agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), National Water Resources Board (NWRB), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev), the host LGU, and the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development which are expected to facilitate the issuance of documents necessary to fast-track the ecozone’s proclamation. PEZA is targeting the completion of regulatory requirements by the second quarter of 2025 prior to its submission to the Office of the President for Proclamation.

The Palawan Mega Ecozone project is expected to create over 480,000 direct jobs, benefiting not only local communities, persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and the whole of Western Visayas and Sulu Regions.

PEZA Spurs Job Growth from Jan-May 2025

With the Agency’s proactive ecozone development initiatives to position the Philippines as the top investment hub in the region, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported a 51.39% increase in employment during its recent board meeting held last 21 May 2025 at its Head Office.

PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga welcomed the positive development, stating, “This consistent growth in job creation affirms investor confidence in the Philippine ecozone program, especially in strategic and emerging locations. Our focus remains on inclusive growth by developing ecozones beyond urban centers.”

Building on this momentum, a notable increase in exports complements the robust employment growth, as PEZA strategically positions the Philippines as a secure and stable hub for friendshoring—catering to businesses worldwide that are pivoting toward resilient, values-aligned markets. The Php 66 billion in approved new and expansion projects spans advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, IT-BPM, logistics, and renewable energy—key industries driving the transformation of global trade networks.

“There still remains some uncertainty regarding the US tariffs which are currently being negotiated. However, at PEZA we are promoting the China 1 1 methodology to facilitate the growing interest of China-based companies in having a presence in the Philippines. PEZA has received numerous amounts of inquiries lately and we are confident that we can do a quick turn-over and welcome these companies as new locators” said DG Panga.

From January to May 2025, we saw South Korea leading as the top investing nationality, accounting for 16.12% of total approved investments. This surge is largely attributed to the recently implemented South Korea–Philippines Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which has boosted investor confidence and strengthened bilateral economic ties.

Other major contributors included the United States (4.08%), China (3.30%), Japan (2.92%), and the Netherlands (2.16%), reflecting continued global interest in the Philippines.

On the industry front, Food and Beverage drew the largest share of approvals at 43.74%, followed by Ecozone Development (32.52%) and IT-BPM (7.59%). Sectors such as EMS-SMS (3.56%) and Automotive (1.43%) also registered steady investment activity.

The continued rise in investor interest is also attributed to the recent passage of the CREATE MORE Act, which enhanced fiscal incentives for export- and domestic-oriented enterprises. This law provides a more competitive, transparent, and performance-based incentive framework—making the Philippines more attractive to global investors seeking long-term, stable locations for their operations.

From January to May 2025, PEZA approved 102 new and expansion projects, representing a total investment of PhP 66.34 billion. These are projected to generate over US$1 billion in export revenues and approximately 29,000 direct Filipino jobs.

This reflects a remarkable 80.14% increase in total projected investments compared to the PhP 36.827 billion recorded during the same period last year—underscoring growing investor confidence in the country’s strategic economic zones.

According to Director General Panga, PEZA is also in talks with Malaysian and Indonesian companies that have earlier signified their interest in establishing their presence in the country as part of their supply chains. “We welcome these interest as we continue to grow and strengthen inter trade ties among our neighbors, making the ASEAN region a more cohesive economic and trade area.”

As PEZA continues to promote and facilitate investments across the country, it remains steadfast in its mission to drive development in the countryside and create employment opportunities for Filipinos.

To support this mission, PEZA is streamlining approval processes, such as digital transformation, and accelerating ecozone development—actions that reinforce its confidence in meeting annual investment targets and bolster the Philippines’ emergence as a leading manufacturing and innovation hub in the region as envisioned by the President.

With the rising interest in the Philippines and together with this massive ecozone development in Palawan, we are well on the way in meeting the set targets for 2025 said the PEZA Chief.