The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has approved three new big-ticket Japanese projects worth P20.591 billion, bringing total Japanese investments in the country to P766.55 billion and generating 340,601 direct jobs for Filipinos. Fresh from his outbound mission to Japan last July 16-22, PEZA Director-General Tereso O. Panga reported of positive investment leads that would make Japan one of the Philippines’ largest and longest-tenured investment partners, as with PEZA, making it one of the leading sources of foreign investments. Panga identified the three big investments as Green Energy with Torrefaction Technology, Inc., Asian Transmission Corporation, and Pricon Microelectronics, Inc. Collectively, the three investments bring in a total of P 20.591 billion in investments with a projected 1,973 direct workers.  These projects were approved by PEZA in February and April this year. “To date, 881 Japanese companies are registered with PEZA, bringing in P766.550 billion worth of investments in the country, with exports of $5.362 billion and generating up to 340,601 direct jobs for Filipinos,” noted Panga. Meantime, the recent outbound mission in Osaka and Tokyo yielded new and expansion project applications, signifying Japan’s growing interest to continue investing and expanding operations in the Philippines. PEZA received interest both from Japanese big-ticket investors and Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs). Most noteworthy would be the commitment of Ichijo Corporation to finalize its expansion plans in 2024, along with possible expansion plans of the ShinEtsu Corporation, OB Kogyo, Ltd., and NEC Networks & System Integration Corporation, Panga reported. According to Panga, Ichijo Corporation plans to increase its annual housing delivery capacity from 15,000 units to 20,000 units in 2024. Ichijo is poised to contribute significantly to local employment to the tune of an additional 3000-4000 new jobs to their current 23,000-strong manpower complement, creating new opportunities for skilled workers. OB Kogyo, Ltd., a die and mold company, also expressed their intent to reinvest USD 3 million in their Philippine plant over the next 3 years, bolstering local manufacturing capabilities. On the other hand, ShinEtsu Corporation, the global industry leader in the production and research of high-performance rare earth magnets, informed PEZA of its possible expansion plans which are dependent on the growth of the global electronic vehicle (EV) sector. The new projects, he said, has put PEZA on track to achieving its conservative 10 percent investment  growth target for 2023. The PEZA outbound mission to Japan was co-organized with the Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC) Economic Estates and the Philippine Trade & Investment Centers in Osaka and Tokyo where they offered the prospects of investing in the Philippines to several sectors such as manufacturing, IT-BPM, agro-processing, and the academe.