New PEZA investments doubled in March
The value of investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) more than doubled in March, with nearly 4,800 new jobs expected from new business ventures and expansions.
PEZA, one of the investment promotion agencies of the Department of Trade and Industry, approved P6.01 billion worth of projects during the month, 110.65 percent higher than the P2.855 billion recorded in the same month a year ago.
In February, the agency approved P22.77 billion worth of investments, equivalent to a 130.5-percent annual growth.
Investments registered under PEZA economic zones enjoy a number of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, including income tax holidays, special corporate income tax rates, or enhanced deductions, among others.
“We are bullish that we will sustain this upward trajectory coming into the second quarter of the year as we intensify our investment promotion initiatives partnered with the CREATE MORE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy Act) incentives, the most generous fiscal incentives among ASEAN to date,” PEZA Director General Tereso Panga said in a statement.
“We already received several inquiries and hosted inbound delegations from US, Japan, China, Taiwan, and Spain who are interested in investing in the ecozones,” he also said, adding that they are anticipating the influx of more investors looking into the country for their offshore operations in Asia.”
Impact
The newly approved investments in March are expected to create 4,752 direct jobs, as well as $223.497 million worth of exports annually.
These comprise 27 new and expansion projects across various industries, including 12 information technology-business process management projects, 10 export manufacturing ventures, two utility projects, two ecozone development initiatives and one domestic enterprise.
Among these are two major ventures with a combined total investment of P2.61 billion: a water treatment facility in Batangas and a coconut milk production plant in Misamis Oriental.
With the new approvals, PEZA’s total investment portfolio for the first quarter reached P58.95 billion, reflecting a 229.3 percent increase compared with the P14.95 billion tallied in the same period in 2024.
The value of PEZA-approved investments reached P214.176 billion in 2024, marking a 21.89 percent increase from the P175.70 billion recorded in 2023.
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