Taiwan business mission gets $65 million in investment pledges

MANILA, Philippines — Investment pledges received by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) from a recent business mission in Taiwan amounted to $65 million.

In a statement yesterday, the PEZA said investment pledges were received from Chimei, which proposes the creation of a facility that develops artificial intelligence-based solutions and LCD monitors, as well as from Budget Energy Corp., which proposes project expansion of Solar Energy Development in Hermosa, Bataan and Subic in Olongapo.

The PEZA also identified YFC-BonEagle International, Inc., which has a $40 million worth of extension plan, as well as AcBel Polytech Inc., and Yeng Hsing Philippine Branch.

In addition, Neotek and Accton Technology Corp. are also exploring investment opportunities in the Philippines through PEZA, with Neotek planning to invest up to $8 million.

The PEZA said there were also serious interests from companies during the various business-to-business meetings attended by the PEZA during the business mission.

For one, Asia Optical Co. is looking to put up an agro-industrial park with a five-hectare ecozone area requirement and an estimated initial investment of P1 billion.

Other companies that expressed interest were: Medtecs International Corp. Ltd., Cyberpower Haoyung International Co. Ltd., Huang Lin Machinery Co. and Giyu Industrial Co.

During the four-day investment mission, PEZA officer-in-charge Tereso Panga said the agency is seeking to attract more investments from Taiwan.

“Not only do we aim to learn from Taiwan, being the seventh biggest economy in Asia and the 20th largest purchasing power parity in the world, we also seek to bring to the country strategic and big-ticket investments that will be vital in our goal of economic growth and development post-pandemic,”Panga said.

“We aim to attract more investments in high-technology industries as Taiwan’s economy is driven by a competitive manufacturing sector in the fields of electronics, machinery, petrochemicals, energy, and information and communications technology (ICT) products,” he said.

Panga said that as of July, there are 108 Taiwanese enterprises registered in PEZA, with investments worth P33 billion. These companies also earned $535.527 million from export of goods and created 46,564 direct jobs.

Among the big-ticket PEZA-registered Taiwanese companies in PEZA include Sunon Properties, Tong Shing Electronics, Kinpo Electronics and its affiliate company Acbel Polytech.

With the positive outcome of the investment mission in Taiwan, Panga said the agency remains bullish that it would achieve its six to seven percent investments target for the year.
“These bright outlooks are aligned with the calibrated year-end GDP growth for the Philippines at 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent, which makes the country among the fastest-growing economies in the region,”Panga said.