A total of P14.95 billion in investment pledges, comprising of 50 new and expansion projects, have been approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) in the first three months of 2024.
According to the agency, the first quarter project approvals are 19.25 percent higher than P12.54 billion registered from January to March in 2023.
Solely for the month of March, investments rose by 22 percent to P2.85 billion investments from 22 projects approved by the PEZA Board, compared to P2.34 billion from 12 projects in March last year.
Most of the investments came from local investors, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Cayman Islands.
The outcome of the projects aim to generate $616.59 million in exports, and employ 11,558 Filipinos.
Out of the 50 projects, 29 are related to export manufacturing, 13 in the information technology and business process and management (IT-BPM) industry, three are for logistics, three for facilities, and one project each for the domestic market and ecozone development.
Their locations are within the PEZA-operated zones in the cities of Quezon, Taguig, and Makati in the National Capital Region (NCR), CALABARZON, Bataan, Pampanga, Cebu, Albay, and Cagayan de Oro.
“We are positive that we will see a continuous upward trajectory with our aggressive investment promotion and facilitation as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. strengthen our bid to position the Philippines as the preferred investment destination in Asia, complemented by PEZA’s targeted and aggressive approach in investment promotion,” said PEZA Director General Tereso Panga.
He noted that the agency is “right on track” and will follow the government's lead in pursuing investments with the help of the Office of Special Assistant to the President for Investments and Economic Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry.
He added that they will follow-through on the pledges made by the President during his state visits.
“PEZA is more than encouraged to sustain its growth momentum this year and onwards given the very positive investment climate statement recently issued by the US International Trade Administration and Bloomberg International, saying that business environment is notably better particularly within the PEZA special economic zones and that PEZA is a unique factor for the Philippines in terms of FDI attraction,” expressed Panga.