Peza investments surged 54% to P12.53B in Q1

MANILA — The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) on Wednesday said its approved investments in the first quarter surged by 54 percent, bouncing back from a 68-percent plunge during the same period last year, during which Russia invaded Ukraine and roiled global markets.

The Peza said investments reached P12.53 billion from January to March, or a 53.99-percent increase from P8.141 billion recorded in the same period in 2022.

Peza Director General Tereso Panga said 42 new and expansion projects were approved in the first quarter, which are expected to generate $616.585 million  in export receipts  and 5,236 direct jobs.

“We have achieved positive investments for this year’s first quarter and we can sustain this momentum in the coming months as we expect more inbound delegations of foreign investors,” Panga said in a statement.

“The best is yet to come as we further open up the economy and manage the external headwinds,” he added.

The Peza chief also mentioned recent leads from new economic zone locator applicants and for inbound investments.

These included investments in the vaccine and life sciences sector, electric vehicle battery technology, motorcycle manufacturing, integrated circuit packaging and testing services, regenerative agriculture, organic fertilizers and pesticides, health care, deep learning, financial technology and other frontier technologies, anaerobic wastewater treatment and liquefied natural gas facilities.

“These emerging technologies will complement the steady flow of investments in semicon-electronics manufacturing and IT (information technology) services, which are the leading sectors in Peza,” said Panga.

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