16/08/2022
Just in โฌ๏ธ
โ๏ธ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ | ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐.๐๐% ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
(August 15, 2022)
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The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Officer-In-Charge and Deputy Director General for Policy and Planning Mr. Tereso O. Panga has reported an increase of 114.93% in PEZAโs total investments for the second quarter of 2022.
This comes as the PEZA Board approved a total of 61 new and expansion projects for the period of April to June 2022, which are expected to bring in a total of PhP 14.347 Billion of investments. This is 114.93% higher than the PhP 6.675 Billion approved investments for the second quarter of 2021.
For the 61 approved new and expansion projects, 16 are for Information Technology, 15 for export/manufacturing, 13 for facilities, 13 for ecozone development, two (2) for IT Facilities and Logistics respectively.
Meanwhile, the expected jobs to be created by the projects totaled to 11,186, which is 29.06% higher as compared to the 8,667 projected jobs in the 2nd quarter of 2021.
However, while there was an increase in investments and employment, there was a total of USD$ 514.639 Million exports projected in Q2 2022, which is a 6.30% decline as compared to last yearโs USD$ 549.219 Million projected exports.
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๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐
For the January to June period of 2022, a total of 90 new and expansion projects have been approved and are expected to bring in PhP 22.488 Billion of investments, USD$ 747.093 million exports, and 14,354 jobs.
Japan remains as PEZAโs top country investor in the first half with PhP 8.007 Billion in investments followed by Singapore with PhP 2.169 Billion.
Meanwhile, the top-performing region where investments are located still remains in Region IV with PhP 10.399 billion. Further, the top-improving regions are: Region VIII (Eastern Visayas), Region X (Northern Mindanao), Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN), and Region XIII (CARAGA).
Comparing the first semesters of last year 2021 and the present covering January to June, a decrease of 29.85% has been reported in the total approved investments from PhP 32.057 Billion of the said period to the present figure of PhP 22.488 Billion.
Nevertheless, PEZA remains bullish that the 6-7% target for the year will be achieved.
๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐
According to Panga, โThe 114.93% increase in our investments for our comparative April-June 2022 data over last year indicate that we are on our way to recovery as well as the foreign investors' strong interest for the Philippines,โ he explained.
Further, he hopes that, โWith the assumption of the PBBM administration, PEZA will be able to bounce back by 3rd quarter this year to exceed our P14.3 billion investments approved for April-June.โ
โFor this first board meeting this month under the chairmanship of Sec. Alfredo Pascual, we expect to present at least 50 applications for ecozone developer and locator projects. The usual top sources of ecozone investments are ecozone development, export manufacturing especially electronics and automotive, and IT services,โ stated Panga.
๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ
In addition to this, PEZA is also targeting sectors catering to unique and strategic industries as guided by the new priorities of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
โWe can realize big-ticket investments from these industry clusters and activities: aerospace and maintenance, repair and operations (MROs); electronics especially Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCCs); e-vehicles; remote healthcare, artificial inteIligence and hyperscalers; pharmaceuticals and medical devices; agriculture 4.0 and regenerative farming; emerging energy technologies, mineral processing; and mega ecozone development,โ noted the PEZA OIC.
Panga expressed, โWe will work closely with the President and his economic team in spreading more strategic industries in other regions of our country through our different types of economic zones so we can continuously bring more jobs, investment revenues, and improve the lives of our fellowmen under the Marcos administration.โ
โGiven the right ecosystem and enabling laws, the Philippine economy could be boosted if economic activities flourish in the ecozones and its linkage in the domestic market. As our increasing GDP growth is a sign of economic strength, we can expect an upturn in the economy and thereby making PEZA more effective in attracting additional investments to generate the much needed jobs, exports, local and national revenues, and other economic opportunities for the country,โ opined the PEZA OIC.
