PEZA seeks more investments from South Korea

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) recently participated in an investment forum in South Korea to attract more investors in line with  efforts to sustain its level of approved investments in the last quarter of the year.

“PEZA is eagerly conducting investment promotion in the last quarter of 2022 to sustain its approved P40 billion of investments [from January to September 2022],”said PEZA OIC deputy director general for finance and administration and promotions and public relations group manager Aleem Siddiqui Guiapal.

“This is a response to the call of President Marcos to increase our FDI (foreign direct investment). An increase in investment means more jobs for Filipinos. And more jobs mean better and quality of life for our kababayans. This is what the investment forum is all about,” Guiapal said.

As part of this effort, Guiapal recently led the PEZA delegation at the Philippine-Korea Investment forum in South Korea.

The forum was part of the five-day outbound investment mission in South Korea in partnership with Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Board of Investments (BOI), and the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) - Seoul, aimed at attracting more Korean investors to the Philippines.

“These investment missions present a good opportunity to share Aboitiz InfraCapital’s success in building world-class, smart, and sustainable economic estates in the Philippines,” Aboitiz InfraCapital Economic Estate head and president of LIMA Land Rafael Fernandez de Mesa said.

“What we’re expecting here is to generate more awareness. We don’t necessarily expect the investments to come tomorrow, but by presenting the incentives that the government is offering, the high quality of developments that we have, we hope to generate interest and to attract new investors,”he said.

Guiapal shared that there are currently 251 South Korean locators in PEZA zones contributing P89.864 billion in investments from 1995  to June 2022.

“These companies also generate $1.102 billion in exports and employ 44,359 workers as of August 2022,” he added.

The PEZA official said these companies are engaged in activities such as the manufacturing of radio, television and communication equipment and apparatus; fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment; rubber and plastic products; real estate activities; and wearing apparel.

He added that the PEZA is optimistic it will have new locator leads of at least four big companies  and one potential joint collaboration on waste management with South Korea.

During the five-day investment mission, PEZA and Aboitiz InfraCapital delegates visited selected smart cities and economic zones namely Incheon Free Economic Zone, Gyeonggi Free Economic Zone, and Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone.

These ecozones are known for their best practices for park operations and management, smart city technologies, sustainability features, ESG programs, utilities and services, waste management systems, solar energy, and transportation services.

“Those who already have investments in the Philippines, it would be easier for them to make decisions on expanding since they are already there. But here, our target is those who are not in the Philippines yet and who are thinking about places where to open new factories or relocate from other countries,”de Mesa said.

PEZA also shares the same sentiment with Aboitiz highlighting the importance of continuously expanding, transforming, and further establishing the Philippines as the preferred investment destination in the region, attracting more investors, and continuing creating high-value-added jobs for the Filipino people.

While PEZA approved investments declined by almost 23 percent in the first nine months to P39.63 billion from P51.2 billion a year ago, PEZA officer-in-charge (OIC) Tereso Panga said earlier that it remains optimistic of hitting its target this year.