PEZA approved investments up 107% in first four months

• The Philippine Economic Zone Authority approved P33.094 billion worth of investments in the first four months of 2023, up 107.15% from the same period last year

• The January to April 2023 investments came from the approval of 60 new and expansion projects

• The projects are expected to generate US$1.012 billion exports and create 7,469 direct jobs

• For April 2023 alone, the PEZA Board green lit 14 new and expansion projects expected to bring in P20.556 billion worth of investments

• PEZA recorded a total of $15.753 billion actual exports in the first quarter of 2023, 49% higher year-on-year

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) approved P33.094 billion worth of investments in the first four months of 2023, up 107.15% compared with the P15.975 billion in the same period last year.

The January to April 2023 investments came from the approval of 60 new and expansion projects, which are expected to generate about US$1.012 billion exports and create 7,469 direct jobs, PEZA said in a statement.

For April 2023 alone, the PEZA Board has greenlighted 14 new and expansion projects expected to bring in P20.556 billion worth of investments and create 2,233 jobs. The April 2023 investment was 162.37% higher than the P7.834 billion in April 2022 that came from 26 projects.

Among these 14 projects, seven are into logistics service enterprise, four are into export manufacturing, and three IT enterprises. These projects will be located in Baguio, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Cebu, and South Cotabato.

The biggest project pre-qualified by the PEZA Board for Fiscal Incentives Regulatory Board approval is engaged in the manufacturing of biomass fuel products made from buyo-buyo (Piper aduncum-shrub), with investments worth P19.701 billion.

For the first quarter of the year, PEZA also recorded a total of $15.753 billion actual exports, 49% higher than the $10.575 billion exports reported in the same quarter in 2022.

“In March alone, we have generated US$5.396 billion export revenues which account for 82.65% of the total country’s US$6.528 Billion exports in March this year,” PEZA director general Tereso Panga said.

“We believe that we are now reaping the results of the ongoing investment missions of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and his administration’s investment initiatives and it is now up to us to follow through the pledges,” Panga said.

Panga hopes the recent working visits of Marcos and his key cabinet and business delegation to the US, UK, and Indonesia will attract foreign direct investments in advanced manufacturing, electronic vehicles industry, renewable energy development, mineral processing, regenerative agriculture, and frontier technologies, particularly in digital health, fintech, blockchain, AI and big data—to boost the mix of industries and value-adding in the ecozones.

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