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The Philippine Economic Zone Authority this year approved a total of 198 projects expected to bring in P140.7 billion worth of investments, 103% higher than the P69.30 billion recorded in 2021
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This year’s approved investments also surpassed the 6-7% annual increase target
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The increase comes after the PEZA Board approved last December 15 about 13 new and expansion projects that will translate to investments of P83.651 billion
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This year’s level of annual investments approved has reached pre-pandemic levels, surpassing the P140.2 billion recorded in 2018
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) approved 198 projects this year, expected to translate to P140.7 billion worth of investments, 103% more than the P69.30 billion recorded in 2021.
The approved investments surpassed the 7% annual target, PEZA officer-in-charge and deputy director general for policy and planning Tereso Panga said in a statement.
“Despite the 29.85% decline in the first semester of the year 2022 compared to the first semester of 2021, we never lost hope that we will recover. With the big-ticket investments that were prequalified by the Board for endorsement to the FIRB [Fiscal Incentives Review Board], we were able to record a positive increase in investments in 2022,” Panga said.
For January to October 2022, PEZA also recorded US$54.239 billion of exports, a 4.68% growth from the $51.814 billion posted in the same period last year. Moreover, direct employment rose 4.62% in the first 10 months of the year to 1.851 million from 1.769 million in the same period last year.
Panga said this year’s level of annual investments approved has also hit pre-pandemic levels, surpassing the P140.2 billion recorded in 2018, which was followed by constant yearly decline in investments until 2021 due to the pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, and the ensuing global supply chain disruptions.
The PEZA interim chief noted that with the increasing gross domestic products growth rate of the country, “we can expect more FDIs [foreign direct investments] to register with PEZA.”
“What is important is we keep building and sustaining the confidence of investors and the country’s competitiveness in investment promotions and facilitations,” Panga added.
The increase in 2022 approved projects comes after the PEZA Board green lit last December 15 about 13 new and expansion projects expected to bring in P83.651 billion of investments. Three of these are by economic zone developers while 10 projects are by ecozone locators, of which four projects are export manufacturing enterprises and six are IT service enterprises.
These projects will be located in Taguig City, Pangasinan, Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Cebu, and Negros Occidental.
The main sources of investments came from Japan, Singapore, Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA, India, South Korea, China, the British Virgin Islands, and Taiwan.
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