PEZA investments down 27% in 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) dropped more than a fourth last year and fell below target as the pandemic continued to affect investor sentiment.

PEZA data showed total investments for 204 projects
approved by the agency reached P69.30 billion last year, down 27 percent from P95.03 billion in 2020.

The agency was initially aiming for a seven percent growth in investment
approvals last year but trimmed the target to five percent in November.

“We calibrated a five percent increase for 2021, but we failed to meet our target,” PEZA deputy director general Tereso Panga said in a Viber message.

He attributed the dismal performance to the impact of the pandemic, as well as the moratorium on new ecozones in Metro Manila.

Administrative Order 18, issued by the Office of the President in 2019, imposed a moratorium on declaration of ecozones in Metro Manila to encourage development in the countryside.

The bulk or P33.08 billion of the investments approved last year were for ecozone development.

The manufacturing sector came in second with P25.51 billion, followed by information technology with P7.32 billion and other sectors with P3.39 billion.

As of November, employment in ecozones reached 1.8 million, while exports reached $57.55 billion.

For this year, Panga said the PEZA is aiming for a six percent uptick in investments.

As part of PEZA’s investment promotion efforts, a webinar was conducted with the Department of Trade and Industry, Board of Investments, National Economic and Development Authority, regional development councils and local government units in the CALABARZON (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) area on the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act which introduced changes to the incentives system.

“Through this initiative, we hope to attract more investments in the CALABARZON area under the CREATE regime,” Panga said.

With over 14.4 million inhabitants in 2020, he said CALABARZON is the country’s second most densely populated area after the National Capital Region.

It is also the third largest contributor to the national gross domestic product, accounting for 17 percent.

In terms of ecozone development, Panga said CALABARZON has 35 manufacturing ecozones or 45 percent of the total 77 export processing zones operating all over the country.

Overall, PEZA has registered 56 special economic zones in CALABARZON, with 2,194 locator companies providing 545,734 direct jobs and generating $26 billion in annual exports as of November last year.

Despite the economic slowdown due to the pandemic, Panga said investments for new projects and expansion in CALABARZON’s ecozones reached P25 billion or 36 percent of the total P69 billion investments approved by PEZA last year.

Panga said PEZA continues to forge strategic partnerships with various public or private institutions and organizations to promote countryside development through the ecozones.