GOVERNMENT officials met with a team from the United States to discuss economic cooperation in pharmaceuticals and advanced manufacturing, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), said on Friday.
The meeting was held as the Philippines and the US mark their 80th year of diplomatic relations.
The US delegation, which arrived on Feb. 13, was led by economic counselor Sharyn Fitzgerald, economic officers Holly Vineyard and Katie Stuntz, and specialist Alta Paraiso.
The PEZA team briefed the delegation about a manufacturer of industrial and medical nitrile gloves and glove-making machines which will operate in the country this year to serve Western and Asean markets, with $200 million in investments and 2,000 job openings in two sites in Southern Luzon and Cebu.
Also discussed were opportunities in energy, including solar panel manufacturing, mining and the retention and expansion of long-term US electronics and semiconductor companies in PEZA.
PEZA and the delegation reaffirmed the value of annual investment missions and expos to the US.
Armie Evardone, lead consultant of the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) Regulatory Assessment Project, and investment climate specialist Froi Tajale, commissioned by the US Embassy’s Regional Foreign Assistance Section, held talks with PEZA Director General Tereso Panga, who emphasized the need for a coordinated “One Government” approach to avoid regulatory overlaps and fragmentation in the LEC project.
The LEC project — launched in 2024 following a trilateral summit between the Philippines, US and Japan — will link Subic, Clark, Manila and Batangas through a 250-kilometer-rail network, upgrading ports and logistics, while attracting investments in semiconductors, clean energy and agribusiness.
“The LEC must evolve beyond port operations into an integrated industrial ecosystem supported by strong governance, policy coherence, infrastructure competitiveness and comprehensive amendments to the PEZA law to sustain high-value and technology-driven investments,” Panga said.
With 219 ecozones operating in LEC areas, PEZA is a primary driver of economic development, supporting a harmonized investment promotion agency framework — in which the Bases Conversion Development Authority focuses on land and infrastructure, while locators may continue registering with PEZA to streamline incentives and processes.
PEZA currently hosts 1,748 registered business enterprises in export manufacturing, semiconductors, IT-BPM, logistics, agro-industrial processing and tourism across the LEC.
These include Texas Instruments, Analogue Devices, Amkor Technology Philippines, ON Semiconductor Philippines, MOOG Controls Corp., JP Morgan Chase Bank and Collins Aerospace, among others.
To spur countryside development and complement the LEC in eastern and southern trade nodes, PEZA is eyeing expansions with the proposed Pantao Ecozone in Albay as a Pacific gateway to de-risk trade routes and open direct access to Asia-Pacific markets.
Additionally, the Palawan Mega Ecozone links to the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area which will open new trade routes and create self-sustaining regional hubs aligned with major transport and infrastructure projects.
To date, PEZA hosts 249 locators with American equity investments worth P413 billion and over 383,000 direct jobs for Filipinos.
