THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) on Tuesday said that it had approved P216.47 billion in investments during the first eight months of the year, equivalent to 72 percent of its P300-billion investment target for the year.
A total of 196 new and expansion projects were greenlit by the PEZA board, a 9.50 percent increase from 179 during the same period last year. The combined worth of P216.47 billion, meanwhile, was 104.53 percent higher than the P105.83 billion seen in January-August last year.
If realized, the projects are expected to yield $6.60 billion in exports and to create 26,994 direct jobs across the country.
The investment portfolio remained dominated by manufacturing, which accounted for 80 of the approved projects. This was followed by ecozone (31), information technology-business process management (30), facilities (19), logistics (15), domestic market (15), tourism (four) and utilities (two) projects.
Of the total, 161 projects will be located in Luzon, 23 in the Visayas and 12 in Mindanao.
The Philippines was the top investment source, followed by the Netherlands, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Thirty-four projects were classified as big-ticket investments with a total value of P193.71 billion.
“Reaching more than 72 percent of PEZA’s annual target in only eight months shows that investor confidence in the Philippines is translating into real commitments,” Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said in a statement.
The agency said it remained optimistic about continued conversion of investment leads into concrete projects for the remaining four months of the year.
