Pasay City – Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Tereso O. Panga said on Thursday that it is optimistic to receive more investors from South Korea with the signing of the Philippines-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on the sidelines of the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits in Jakarta, Indonesia.

According to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., "The signing of the FTA is a testament to the realization of many opportunities for complementation and collaboration between the Philippines and South Korea, and an even greater milestone for our economic friendship."

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual also noted that "for the Philippines, this FTA serves as a clear demonstration of the intent to elevate the current bilateral relations with South Korea to a stronger strategic partnership. The Philippines' engagement with South Korea is built on trade through market access, economic cooperation, and investments through collaboration in targeted sectors such as critical minerals and supply chains."

Echoing these, Panga stated that "With South Korea's status as the 10th largest GDP in the world and 2nd most technologically advanced nation (next to Germany), the Philippines stands to benefit from this FTA which opens more opportunities for investors, increased market access, FDI inflows, higher value-added production and export diversification combined with deeper economic cooperation and innovation partnership."

PEZA is also seeing an influx of FDIs coming from South Korea for the year.

Panga said, "We are seeing an increasing trend with more South Korean investments coming in the country. Last year, we have approved a total of Php 1.019 Billion investments from South Korean projects and for our performance this year, we already generated a total of Php 1.413 Billion investments from South Korea. We are looking forward to welcoming more investments from them, especially from industries unique to the country."

As of June 2023, PEZA has a total of 246 registered projects from South Korea which generate Php 92.190 Billion investments, US$ 736.454 Million exports, and 40,688 employments.