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The Philippine Economic Zone Authority is eyeing a 9%-10% year-on-year increase in approved investments in 2025
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For 2024, a total of P215 billion worth of investments is expected to be green lit, the highest annual approved investments since 2018
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For 2025, the target is from P235 billion to P250 billion
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The “bold plan,” however, is to breach the record P311.9 billion investments approval in 2012
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is looking at a 9%-10% year-on-year increase in approved investments in 2025 to P235 billion to P250 billion.
From January to November 2024, the PEZA Board approved P201.551 billion worth of investments, already surpassing the full-year 2024 target of P200 billion. The latest figure represents an increase of 14.7% from P175.71 billion approved for the whole of 2023.
The investment approval for the first nine months covers 239 new and expansion projects, expected to generate over $3.9 billion in export revenues and provide direct jobs to more than 70,000 Filipinos.
For this year, PEZA has seen a significant increase in investments from South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Austria, and Germany. The top industry sectors are still dominated by manufacturing, IT services, and transportation.
The PEZA Board is expected to approve an additional P13.45 billion worth of investments in its last meeting for the year scheduled for December 17, PEZA director general Tereso Panga said in a media briefing on December 16.
With this, PEZA is seen to approve a total of around P215 billion worth of investments for the entire 2024, the highest annual approval since 2018.
READ: PEZA on track to hit P200B investment target for 2024
The “bold plan,” however, is to breach the record P311.9 billion investments approval in 2012 during the time of former PEZA director general Lilia De Lima.
“As soon as we breach that, that means we will be a serious contender when it comes to FDI (foreign direct investment) attraction in the region,” said Panga.
Asked when this can be achieved, Panga said it might be as soon as 2025, noting advantages from policies such as the newly-enacted Republic Act (RA) No. 12066, or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE).
READ: Marcos signs CREATE MORE Act into law
Panga earlier said that with enhanced fiscal incentives under CREATE MORE, “the Philippines now has the most generous tax and investment perks for investors among ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economies.”
Moreover, Panga said they are expecting some big-ticket projects to be approved during the next Board meeting in January.
Meantime, PEZA is expanding its product mix, especially in electronics. Other priority industries include electric vehicles, smart manufacturing, data centers, food agro-processing, green ores or mineral processing, Halal products, and those related to pharmaceuticals.
PEZA, Panga noted, has also seen a “diversity” of non-traditional investment sources, such as from Bahrain and Africa this year. Ecozone investment approvals from Liechtenstein, Samoa, and Mauritius have likewise grown, highlighting these countries as non-traditional sources of ecozone FDI and exports.
The anticipated Philippines-South Korea free trade agreement, targeted for signing before the year ends, is also seen to contribute to more investments for next year. – Roumina Pablo
