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PEZA sets sights on over P250B in investment approvals next year
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) aims for investment approvals of over P250 billion next year, its top official said on Friday.
“We really want to target over P250 billion because that will bring us back to the peak levels of PEZA during the time of [former PEZA Director-General] Lilia B. De Lima when we were hitting P250-P300 billion,” PEZA Director-General Tereso O. Panga said during a briefing.
PEZA aims for a conservative 15% increase or P202 billion in investments for 2024, he also said.
“Even Secretary Frederick D. Go pointed out that it would appear that we are on a decline, but we are out here to prove that we can regain that status,” Mr. Panga added.
In 2023, PEZA approved P175.71 billion worth of investments, representing a 24.9% increase from the P140.7 billion seen in 2022.
The investment promotion agency also saw an increase in the number of projects approved this year, with 233 projects, a 20.9% rise compared to the 194 projects approved last year.
“I am trying to get the tally of the locations of these projects, but from our records, almost 60% are outside Metro Manila and the metropolis,” Mr. Panga said.
The agency also saw a more than double increase in projected exports, reaching $4 billion, up from $1.98 billion last year, while projected employment grew by 19.4% to 40,527 from 33,951 a year ago.—Justine Irish DP. Tabile