PEZA companies generate 721,588 new jobs in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines - Firms operating inside the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) generated 721,588 new jobs during the first nine months of the year, up 22 percent from the 592,257 recorded during the same period a year ago.

At the same time, earnings from exports of firms operating inside the ecozones went up by 29 percent to $30.28 billion from the $23.48 billion posted a year ago.

The bulk of the exports were from private ecozones which amounted to more than $21 billion.

Meanwhile, PEZA Director General LiIlia B. de Lima said that the PEZA Board approved 364 projects worth P80.619 billion during the nine-month period, 32.06 percent higher than last year’s P61.050 billion.

PEZA reported that Green Future Innovations Inc., a newly formed venture among Japan’s Itochu Corp. and JGC Corp., the Philippine Bioethanol and Energy Investments Corp., and Taiwanese holding company GCO, has invested $120 million for a renewable energy project in Isabela.

The investment will produce ethanol from an 11,000-hectare sugarcane plantation in and around San Mariano’s 30-kilometer radius. It will also convert bagasse or sugarcane residual to electricity in its 19-megawatt power plant, projecting a 13-MW contribution to the Luzon grid in the future.

Itochu Corp. and JGC Corp. are looking into large-scale bioethanol and power supply businesses across Asia, but are particularly drawn to the Philippines because of its Biofuels Law and the Renewable Energy Law.

According to local investor and chief administrative officer Alexander Uy, Green Future harps on the main objectives of the law, among which is energy self-sufficiency in the country. “There’s great value for a country to be self-sufficient in fuel, even if it’s just five percent to begin with. Right now we import 100 percent of our fuel needs, and foreign exchange goes to the rich Middle Eastern nations. Through partnerships like this, we procure ethanol domestically and provide added value for the low-income Filipino farmer,” Uy said.