Ecozone investments up three-fold to P111.2 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) continued to increase in the beginning of September as year-to-date figure showed a 181-percent jump to P111.21 billion from a year-ago level of P39.63 billion.

The approved investments so far this year covered a total of 144 projects, slightly lower than the 148 projects approved in the same period last year.

The investments are projected to generate exports of $2.38 billion and employment of 23,021.

In a press conference, PEZA director-general Tereso Panga said the agency’s board approved P14.04 billion worth of projects last Sept. 7.

This covered 27 projects with projected exports of $174.8 billion and employment of 4,614.

Of the approved projects, seven are ecozone developer/operator projects including Lima Technology- Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Philippine Industrial Park-SEZ, and the Light Industry and Science Park IV-SEZ, all of which are in Batangas, as well as the Lakeside Ecozone in Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

The PEZA board also approved 11 export enterprise projects such as the First Cavite Industrial Estate SEZ, Cebu Light Industrial Park, Laguna Technopark-SEZ and the Mactan Economic Zone, among others.

In addition, five information technology enterprise projects were also approved such as the King’s Court II building in Makati City; Southwoods Mall in Biñan, Laguna; Cebu Central Bloc Corporate Center Tower 2; and the Five E-Com Center building.

Other approved projects at the recent PEZA board meeting were two domestic market enterprise projects and two logistics services enterprise projects.

Last month, Panga expressed confidence in exceeding their P160-billion target for this year, noting that this could reach as high as P300 billion.

“But if all leads will be realized within the year, there are strong chances that we can still hit our maximum target of about P300 billion,” Panga said in an interview with ANC last month.

The P300 billion maximum target is more than double the P104.7 billion investments approved by the agency last year.