Investment pledges approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) managed to inch up by 2.56 percent to P153.94 billion in the first 10 months of 2014 as more foreign firms expressed confidence in the country’s booming economy.
In the same period last year, the investment commitments approved by Peza stood at P150.09 billion, according to Elmer H. San Pascual, group manager of the promotions and public relations group of Peza.
San Pascual said these proposed investments would be used to fund projects for the semiconductor and electronics, IT services and general manufacturing industries as well as for economic zone development.
The biggest share of the investments came from Japanese firms, followed by the British, Dutch, Americans, Germans, Singaporeans and Australians. Other investments came from Taiwanese, Danish, Chinese and Polish companies, he added.
Peza Director General Lilia de Lima said they remained optimistic that the investment pledges approved for the year would still reach P299 billion even as the value of investments approved from January to October this year was a little more than half of the agency’s target for the year, which represented an 8 percent growth from the P276.13 billion worth of investments approved in 2013.
De Lima noted that they were expecting the value of projects to be approved in the last two months of the year to boost the total investment approvals for 2014.
Meanwhile, De Lima also disclosed that more than 50 European firms engaged in manufacturing, ICT and electronics have expressed renewed interest to do business in the Philippines even as the country continued to face problems concerning power supply and port congestion.
De Lima explained that they were able to talk to these European companies following a successful Peza investor roadshow earlier this month. The interested firms included German automotive parts manufacturers from Stuttgart and Hamburg that were considering potential business opportunities in the Philippines.
“I went to seven cities, including Luxembourg. Most of the (companies we’ve talked to) want to bring investment missions to the country. And that’s our strategy so investors could come and see for themselves [what we have to offer],” De Lima said.
“Many of them are sill hesitant to come to this part of the world whether for investments in the business process outsourcing sector, IT or manufacturing. But I tell them their society is aging and this is our selling point—that all over the world, we have the youngest population and they need the manpower so they can come here instead of bringing manpower to their countries. And that makes sense to them,” she explained.
Meanwhile, De Lima also disclosed that she received in her office last week a listed US-based electronics firm and Japanese company engaged in manufacturing, both of which are interested to set up their respective facilities in the country.
A British business delegation also visited her Tuesday night as these companies were looking for potential investment opportunities in the country.