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PEZA’s export income rose 7.68% to US$32.5 billion in the first half of 2022
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Approved investments, however, declined 30% to P22.49 billion
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Investments came from 90 new and expansion projects with projected annual export sales of $747.093 million
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Japan still PEZA’s top country investor in the first half with P8 billion in investments; Singapore follows with P2.17 billion
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA)’s export income grew 7.68% even as approved investments in its ecozones declined 30% in the first half of 2022.
“Despite experiencing a 29.85% decline in investments in the first six months of 2022 compared with last year’s same period, our export income and employment continued to grow,” Tereso Panga, PEZA officer-in-charge and deputy director general for operations said in a statement.
Export income grew to US$32.5 billion from January to June this year from $30.18 billion in the same period last year. In terms of employment, PEZA-registered economic zones nationwide recorded 1.79 million workers in the first half, 10.158% higher from 1.63 million a year ago.
Approved investments totalled P22.49 billion from January to June, down from P32.05 billion in the first half of 2021.
These investments came from 90 new and expansion projects with projected annual export sales of $747.09 million and expected job generation of 14,354 direct employment.
The top countries with the highest investments for the first six months were Japan, Singapore, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
Japan remained PEZA’s top country investor in the first half with P8.01 billion in investments. It was followed by Singapore with P2.17 billion.
Region 4 remained the top-performing region where P10.4 billion in investments were located. The most improved regions, meanwhile, were Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), Region 10 (Northern Mindanao), Region 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN), and Region 13 (CARAGA).
For the second quarter, the PEZA Board-approved investment grew 114.93% to P14.35 billion from P6.68 billion in the same quarter in 2021. These investments came from 61 new and expansion projects, which were 110.34% more than the 29 approved projects in the first quarter a year ago.
Export sales for the second quarter declined 6.30% to $514.64 million from $549.22 million.
Employment, meanwhile, grew 29.06% in the second quarter to 11,186 from 8,667.
For the month of June alone, the PEZA Board approved 20 new and expansion projects with P3.56 million of investments. Among the 20 recently approved projects, two fall under the export manufacturing, eight for IT enterprises, five for facilities, and five for ecozone development projects.
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