MANILA — The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has registered PHP203.2 billion investments in January to October 2017, up 89.3 percent from PHP107.3 billion in the same period in 2016.
PEZA Director General Charito Plaza said the number of projects, job generation, and export revenues in economic zones for the period also increased.
Projects approved by PEZA in the first 10 months of the year slightly grew by 0.62 percent to 484 from 481 last year.
Employment in PEZA zones went up 4.47 percent to 1.38 million in January to October 2017 from 1.32 million in the same period in 2016.
Export revenues of PEZA-registered firms likewise improved 9.7 percent to USD38 billion this year from USD34.6 billion in the previous year.
Investment in economic zone development reached PHP125.8 billion, almost doubled the PHP65.2 billion approved in 2016.
Growth in manufacturing investments was faster at 98 percent amounting to PHP45.6 billion in January to October 2017 from PHP23.5 billion last year.
On the other hand, investments in information technology sector slowed down to PHP14.4 billion, down 8.4 percent.
Plaza said in a chance interview that investment pledges in PEZA are seen to further increase towards the end of the year.
She said PEZA has been aggressive in promoting the Philippines as investment destination both to foreign and local companies.
She added that PEZA also invites local government units to convert idle lands into economic zones.