PEZA approved investments down 11.5% to P57 billion

MANILA, Philippines — While investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) declined by 11.5 percent in the 11 months of the year, the agency remains optimistic it will hit  its growth target for this year.

Latest figures from  PEZA showed that approved investments from January to November reached P57.048 billion, down from the P63.46 billion recorded in the same period last year.

This covers a total of 181 projects, lower than the 229 projects approved in the same period last year.

“From (a)  high of -22.6 percent decline in investments two months ago, we were able to narrow the gap to – 11.5 percent this January-November 2022 vs same period last year,” PEZA officer-in-charge director general Tereso Panga said.

“With two more board meetings scheduled this December, we are confident that we can achieve our target of six to seven percent increase in 2022 approved investments vs 2021,”he said.

Of the total approved investments, the PEZA noted that Japan accounted for a 31.12 percent share or P17.75 billion with the top big-ticket projects coming from Shin-etsu Magnetics Philippines Inc., Cebu Mitsumi Inc., TDK Philippines Corp., Tamiya (Philippines) Inc., and P.IMES Corp. (Philippine International Manufacturing and Engineering Services Corp).

“PEZA will continue to perform its best and attract the much-needed strategic and big-ticket investments to the country and contribute to PBBM’s goal for the country’s transition to upper middle-income economy within his term,” Panga said.

As part of its efforts to continue attracting investments, the PEZA recently held an investment mission in Osaka, Japan from Dec. 7 to 9.

“In partnership with the Okayama International Business Association (OIBA), Philippine Economic Zone Authority and the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Osaka engaged around 30,000 Japanese SMEs to invest in the Philippines that will be vital in boosting the Philippines’ manufacturing supply chain and industrial ecosystem,” Panga said.

According to  PEZA,  the mission is also in preparation  for President Marcos’ state visit to Japan in February 2023, which will coincide with the celebration of Japan+ASEAN 50th year of partnership.

Meanwhile,  PEZA said a group of Okayama business delegation would  visit the Philippines by the first quarter next year to explore investment opportunities in the ecozones.

“With Japan’s SMEs (small and medium enterprises) as the lifeblood of this country’s massive economy, comprising 99.7 percent of all businesses, we can take advantage of these SMEs by putting up operations in the Philippines, help  complete the supply chain, empower our own SMEs, and boost the country’s industrial ecosystem,”Panga said.

The PEZA  also engaged in several business-to-business and government-to-government meetings during the mission to strengthen its investment promotion initiatives and promote the Philippines as the best choice for investors especially in Southeast Asia.

PEZA and PTIC Osaka met with the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), Osaka Business Development Agency (OBDA), Osaka Prefectural Government (OPG), and the Okayama International Business Association (OIBA) to explore areas for investment promotion collaborations and in strengthening the Philippine-Japan partnership in various areas such as the World Expo 2025 to be held in Kansai, Osaka, Japan.

The ecozone authority also met with Junca Holdings to discuss their upcoming bio-technology activity to be registered with PEZA.

Partner companies of Junca Holdings, such as Synergy and Global Network Japan are also exploring the possibility of putting up a tourism economic zone and an anaerobic/waste-to-energy water treatment plant in the Philippines through PEZA.

Shibutani Shoten Corp., a manufacturer of car seat, arm rest, and headrest covers for big car companies, such as Mitsubishi and Mazda, also met with PEZA to discuss its plans of putting up a company in the Philippines to support its employment and training program for Filipino workers and expand its brand to the international market.

In terms of expansion, Marukame Trading Co. Ltd. seeks to hire 100 additional employees to their Philippine company, Marukame Fashion Cebu Inc., a 100 percent export-manufacturer of high-end and global apparel brands located in Mactan Economic Zone.

VALTES Co. Ltd. is also looking at expanding the operations of VALTES Advanced Technology Inc., a PEZA-registered IT company,  into software design and development to cater to their plans of employing additional 100 software engineers.

Moreover, Nakashima Propeller Co. Ltd., a global industry leader in the manufacture of marine equipment, such as sea vessel propellers, rudders, and shafts,  plans to bring in new technology and incorporate innovation to its plants worldwide, particularly in its facility in the Cavite Economic Zone.

In addition, Inabata Philippines Inc., a leading ecozone logistics provider, is looking at expand its warehouse footprint in the next two years to cater to its client ecozone locators nationwide, while Showa Spring Co. Ltd., with a PEZA-registered export manufacturing enterprise in Mactan Economic Zone, is also scouting a separate location in the Calabarzon area for the expansion project of its operations in the Philippines.

With the successful mission, PEZA expects to increase the number of Japanese locator companies within its ecozones and create stronger partnerships to promote the Philippines as the smart choice for strategic and big-ticket investments.

“We echo the call of the government and our investors that the Philippines is the smart investment choice in the region. This is the best time to invest in the Philippines,” Panga said.