PEZA investments climb 80% in five months

Investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) went up by more than 80 percent in January to May this year.

Data released on Tuesday showed that during the period, the PEZA approved 102 new and expansion projects worth PHP66.34 billion, up from the PHP36.83 billion in the same period last year.

These are projected to generate over USD1 billion in export revenues and approximately 29,000 direct Filipino jobs.

The approved new and expansion projects span advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, IT-BPM, logistics, and renewable energy.

On the industry front, food and beverage drew the largest share of approvals at 43.74 percent, followed by ecozone development and IT-BPM.

South Korea was the largest source of investments, accounting for about 16.12 percent of the total approved investments.

PEZA said the increase was due to the recently implemented South Korea–Philippines Free Trade Agreement, which boosted investor confidence and strengthened bilateral economic ties.

Other major sources of investments include the United States, China, Japan, and the Netherlands.

PEZA said 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.

"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 Director General Tereso Panga said.

"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."

Panga said 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," he said.

PEZA vowed that it would continue its efforts to drive development in the countryside and create employment opportunities.

To achieve this, it is streamlining approval processes, such as digital transformation, and accelerating ecozone development.