PH woos ecozone investors from China, Taiwan

MANILA  -The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) is looking to attract more investors from Taiwan and China, with more investment missions to key cities in these East Asian economies slated this year and the next.

Peza director general Tereso Panga said the investment promotion agency was targeting Taipei, as well as Xiamen, Dongguan, Shanghai, Hunan and Chongqing as the next destination of their investment missions.

“Peza hopes to increase further the consolidated investments from current total ecozone Chinese foreign direct investments amounting to P73.418 billion. China is currently the Philippines’ top trading partner, consuming a major share of the country’s exports as well as being the top source of imported goods,” Panga said in a public post on Monday evening.

As of May 2023, there are currently 164 Chinese companies located at Peza special economic zones, according to records from the investment promotion agency.

These companies have also produced $90.341 million worth of exports from January to March this year.

As for Taiwanese firms, there are at least 109 located at Peza’s economic zones, with P33.165 billion invested as of March of this year.

The Peza is targeting to grow its investment approvals by at least 10 percent this year.

From January to September, Peza has approved P111.2 billion worth of investments, marking a 181 percent increase compared with the P39.6 billion recorded during the same period in 2022.

Last year, Peza approved P140.7 billion worth of investments, up 103 percent from the previous year and ending four years of decline.

Peza-approved investments reached P140.2 billion in 2018, P117.54 billion in 2019, P95.03 billion in 2020 and P69.30 billion in 2021.

To increase foreign direct investments, the government plans to establish more economic zones. Earlier in August, the Marcos administration issued proclamation orders creating three new economic zones in Naga City, Bacolod City and Dumaguete City.

At least six more economic zones are waiting for a similar proclamation order from Malacañang.

These new economic hubs will be established in the cities of Parañaque and Pasig, as well as in Tanza Cavite, Ilocos Sur and the province of Sarangani. INQ