PEZA projects drop in 2020 as local investments contract 48%

• The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) approved 326 projects worth P95 billion in 2020

• Of the total, 109 projects were from the information technology-business process outsourcing sector and 217 from manufacturing

• Foreign investments were up 21% but local investments declined 48%

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) approved 326 projects worth P95.03 billion in investments for 2020, lower than the 540 new and expansion projects worth P117.5 billion registered in 2019.

Of the total projects last year, 109 projects were from the information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) sector and 217 from the manufacturing sector.

In terms of location, 146 of the projects are in Region IV, 74 are in the National Capital Region (NCR), 39 in Region VII, 34 in Region III, and 33 in other regions.

Foreign investments were up 21.26% to P59.73 billion in 2020 from P49.26 billion in 2019. Local investments, however, recorded a 48% decline from P68.29 billion in 2019 to P35.30 billion in 2020.

PEZA said the decrease can be attributed to various causes, including the effects of COVID-19-related lockdowns imposed beginning March 2020.

In terms of sector, the manufacturing industry generated a total of P34.44 billion in investments, 13.43% up from the sector’s P30.35-billion investments in 2019.

The IT-BPO industry, on the other hand, is seen to bring in P17.41 billion in investments, 0.93% lower than the P17.58 billion investments recorded in 2019.

Majority of the investments came from the US, European countries like the United Kingdom, Belgium, Ireland, and Spain, and Asian countries such as China, South Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan.

In terms of regions where the investments are located, the top performers of 2020 were the Cordillera Administrative Region and Regions 1, 3, 5, 6, 11 and 12.