THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has moved closer to hitting its P300-billion target for the year with P297.14 billion in pledges approved as of September, nearly double the amount seen in the same period last year.
The investments consist of 222 new and expansion projects, which if realized are expected to generate $8.95 billion in exports and create 33,331 jobs. Thirty-nine big-ticket projects worth a combined P271.33 billion comprise the bulk.
Manufacturing accounted for 39 of the 222 projects, followed by ecozone development (34), information technology-business process management (34), facilities (23), logistics (18), domestic market (17), tourism (4) and utilities (3).
One hundred eighty-five are in Luzon, 25 in the Visayas and 12 in Mindanao.
The top foreign investment sources are Taiwan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia, the PEZA said, reflecting the increasing diversity of companies choosing to expand or locate in the country.
In September alone, the PEZA approved P80.68 billion in investment pledges, a 65.08-percent increase. The projects are expected to result in $2.34 billion in exports and generate 6,292 jobs.
Approved during the month were nine manufacturing projects, four facilities, four IT-BPM projects, three ecozone development projects, three logistics projects, two domestic market projects, and one utility project.
The projects are located in Calabarzon, Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Western Visayas and Central Visayas.
Five are big-ticket projects with a total value amounting to P77.62 billion.
These include shipbuilding and repair, photovoltaic manufacturing, real estate activities, bioethanol production, and electronics manufacturing in Tarlac, Cavite, Batangas, and Negros Occidental.
The September investment approval also brought the third quarter tally to P155.45 billion, higher than the P45.53 billion in January-March and P95.16 billion in April-June.
“With P300 billion within reach and with still three months to go before the year-end, the agency is sustaining its aggressive investment promotion and investor facilitation efforts to go beyond the target and breach the highest P311-billion record investments by PEZA set during the Aquino administration,” PEZA Director General Tereso Panga said.
“I am confident that with a whole of government approach in place, we will be able to achieve our goals of turning the growing global pipeline into more investments, quality jobs and stronger exports,” he added.