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The Philippine Economic Zone Authority approved P80.58 billion worth of investments in the first half, 258% more than P22.489 billion from the same period last year
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The potential capital investments are from 102 economic zone developer-locator projects
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In June alone, PEZA approved 22 projects worth P32.56 billion, up 814.13% from the P3.56 billion from 20 approved projects a year ago
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For July 2022 to June 2023, or the first year of the Marcos administration, PEZA says it had generated P198.8 billion worth of investments from 206 projects
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Board approved P80.58 billion worth of investments in the first half, 258% more than P22.489 billion from the same period last year.
The potential capital investments are from 102 economic zone developer-locator projects.
In June alone, PEZA approved 22 projects worth a total of P32.56 billion, up 814.13% from P3.56 billion in June 2022 from 20 approved projects. The 22 projects are expected to bring in $481.88 billion worth of exports and 3,475 direct jobs.
Of the 102 approved projects, 43 are export-oriented, 24 are in IT, 10 are ecozone facilities, 10 are ecozone developments, 10 are in ecozone logistics, three are ecozone domestic market-oriented industries, and two are ecozone utilities.
PEZA also recorded $25.93 billion of exports from January to June 2023, a 4.15% decline from the $27.06 billion in the same period last year. Direct employment, on the other hand, grew 1.88% to 1.81 million from 1.77 million.
“We remain optimistic that we will sustain our positive growth trajectory for the 2nd half of the year, given the notable increase in our KPIs [key performance indicators] on investments, jobs and exports from a more aggressive whole-of-government approach in investment promotion,” PEZA director general Tereso Panga said in a statement.
From July 2022 to June 2023, or the first year of the Marcos administration, PEZA said it had generated P198.80 billion worth of investments from 206 projects that created 1.81 million actual direct jobs (cumulative) and actual direct exports valued at $58.49 billion.
Among the 206 projects, 11 were big-ticket projects with a minimum P1 billion capital investment or a total worth of P154.97 billion. The big-ticket projects were in the following sectors: ecozone development, P119.26 billion; export manufacturing, P33.95 billion, and ecozone facilities, P1.76 billion.
PEZA said it is ramping up its investment promotion and facilitation initiatives to attract much-needed foreign direct investments into the country. This is ahead of the anticipated influx of investors to the country as PEZA follows through on the outbound missions done by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. since last year.
Panga noted that in June, PEZA welcomed several delegations from France, Czechia, and Dongguan, China, and facilitated a learning visit and study tour of Ugandan and Papua New Guinean delegations. PEZA likewise received other delegations from China, Taiwan and Japan in the first semester of the year.
In addition, PEZA is collaborating with various government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Labor and Employment in promoting industrial peace in the ecozones.
PEZA is working as well with the Bureau of Corrections, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Privatization Management Office on the utilization of public lands for ecozone development.
“With the inclusion of the ecozone development program in the country’s medium-term plan (2023- 2028), we aim to develop more ecozones in rural and new growth areas and introduce new frontiers catering to emerging and niche industries,” Panga said.
To complement this, PEZA is implementing several automation initiatives pursuant to the call of the President to enhance the ease of doing business in the Philippines.
PEZA has partnered with the Department of Information and Communications Technology to fast-track the implementation of its digitalization program and to align it with the government’s automation efforts.
“We are strengthening our one-stop-shop services to cater to our agile locators and the changing investment landscape globally,” Panga said.
