Investments in ecozones surge 355% to P3.183B in January

The Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA) reported yesterday that capital inflows into the special economic zones surged by 355 percent to P3.183 billion in January from only P699 million in the same period last year.

According to PEZA Director General Lilia B. de Lima, investors continue to be attracted to the special economic zones because of the perks they enjoy including duty-free importation of capital equipment and raw materials.

De Lima reported the January investment figures during the signing yesterday of a memorandum of agreement by the PEZA, the Bureau of Customs, the Philippine Ports Authority and the Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines on the implementation of the Automated Export Documentation System (AEDS) for automotive exports.

The implementation of the AEDS for the automotive sector is intended to reduce the processing time for export applications by using an automated system that would enable the automotive companies to file and receive approval for their export shipment in their offices instead of having to go to the BoC.

The AEDS is an electronic system which eliminates the manual processing of export declarations and enables exporters to save time, transportation and costs associated with the processing of export declarations.

Through the use of computers and telecommunications, the AEDS links exporters and government agencies involved in processing export applications.

The AEDS allows for an electronic, real-time approval of export applications.

All the exporters need to do is key in the details of their export shipments in the computer and the system would automatically process their applications.

The AEDS is already being used by the electronics and semiconductor industry.