PEZA investment approvals at P9.88 billion in year to date
THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said on Monday that investment approvals were sharply higher in the year to date at P9.88 billion.
In a statement, the investment promotion agency (IPA) said that 16 projects comprising ecozone enterprises (9), information technology enterprises (3), economic zone logistics (2), domestic enterprises (1) and developer projects (1), were approved in February.
“These projects are anticipated to yield an investment of P9.88 billion, generating $591.476 million in exports and creating 2,243 direct jobs,” PEZA said.
“In comparison to the corresponding period in 2023, the investments, exports, and jobs are 160.08%, 135.31%, and 319.25% higher, respectively,” it added.
The new projects will be located in First Philippine Industrial Park II, Daiichi Industrial Park, Light Industry & Science Park III, Laguna Technopark, PHIVIDEC Industrial Estate – Economic Zone, Lima Technology Center, Mactan Economic Zone II, People Technology Complex, 1 Nito Tower in Cebu City, Embarcadero De Legazpi in Legazpi City, Light Industry & Science Park IV and Hermosa Ecozone Industrial Park.
“Notably, one of the new projects pre-qualified by the PEZA board is engaged in the manufacture of solar wafer cells and will start its operations in July 2024,” the IPA said.
PEZA said that it has so far approved 28 new and expansion projects worth P12.1 billion in the first two months, which are expected to generate $661.1 million in exports and 3,580 direct jobs.
“The significant upswing in our investment performance within two months underscores our commitment to achieving our target of P250-billion investments for this year,” PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga said, without specifying the exact end-date in February for the investment total.
PEZA held its recent board meeting on Feb. 16 at the LIMA Technology Center – Special Economic Zone in Malvar, Batangas.
It was attended by four board members representing the Departments of Finance, Labor and Employment, and Interior and Local Government, as well as the National Economic and Development Authority.
The PEZA board also toured the facilities of Epson Precision (Philippines), Inc. and Grandsun Advanced Electronics (Philippines) Co., Inc. whose investments, as of last year, were worth P18.837 billion and P75 million, respectively. — Justine Irish D. Tabile