MANILA, Philippines – Investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) have reached P160.44 billion so far in 2023, breaching the investment promotion agency’s full-year target as it grew by 14 percent from the previous year, with one more board meeting scheduled this month.
Data obtained by the Inquirer from the Peza covering early December showed that P19.55 billion worth of new and expansion projects had been approved recently, adding to the P140.884 billion worth of new investments recorded during the previous 11 months.
There were 24 new investments approved by the Peza during its last board meeting earlier this December, ventures that are expected to generate $286.9 million worth of exports and 4,515 new jobs.
Of those projects, 14 are in the export industry, three in the information technology (IT) sector, four in facilities, and another three are developer projects.
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The Peza will have another board meeting on Dec. 19, and it is expected to decide on about P30 billion worth of projects that are under assessment.
The investment promotion agency was aiming to achieve a “conservative” 10 percent growth in its investment portfolio this year by approving P154.77 billion worth of new and expansion projects.
Late last month, Peza Director General Tereso Panga told reporters that he was expecting to surpass their target this year with “flying colors” owing to the pipeline of investments that are still being assessed.
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“If we are lucky enough, this might bring us back to (the) P200 billion to P250 billion level or the 2012 [and] 2015 peak years of Peza investment approvals,” he said during a chance interview.
In 2022, Peza-approved investments reached P140.7 billion, soaring by 103 percent from the P69.30 billion tallied for the full year of 2021.
Its approved investments reached P95.03 billion in 2020, P117.54 billion in 2019 and P140.2 billion in 2018.