Philippine Economic Zone Authority Director General Tereso O. Panga said more Chinese companies are choosing the Philippines as their next investment destination for their operations, at the completion of the 20th China-ASEAN Expo last 19 September.

"With our robust economic performance and aggressive investment strategy, we are bullish in attracting more Chinese investments to the country especially in our ecozones, which can provide the best business ecosystem for our investors," said Panga.

During the Philippine Investment Forum in China, Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime A. FlorCruz highlighted that Chinese investors have expressed positive and increased interest in locating in the Philippines. He reported that the state visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. secured over $22 billion in strategic investment commitments.

FlorCruz also stated that "In the past 6 months since I took this role as Ambassador, I have met many Chinese executives actively seeking investment opportunities across numerous industries in the Philippines. Many are now poised to invest in the Philippines."

After the forum, two big Chinese companies met with Philippine officials to discuss business opportunities. One company, a leading global provider of smart devices, seeks to expand its presence in the Philippines, especially in the area of consumer electronics. Another company, one of the five largest power generation groups in China, aims to bring in renewable energy projects to the country.

PEZA seeks to attract investments from high-tech industries and emerging technologies in industrial manufacturing transport, technology media and telecommunications, health and life sciences, agro-processing, renewable energy development and green ores.

To date, a total of 164 Chinese companies/projects are registered at PEZA, generating P25.822 billion investments (as of May 2023) and creating 16,221 direct jobs (as of March 2023).

On the sidelines of the CAEXPO, Panga represented the Philippines during the Roundtable Meeting on Investment Cooperation with the theme: "China-ASEAN Cooperation in Green Low-Carbon and Digital Economy".

He noted, "The China-ASEAN Cooperation in Green Low-Carbon and Digital Economy represents a vital step toward sustainable development, environmental conservation and economic growth, not just for the participating nations but for the entire world."

The PEZA Chief also laid out some of the initiatives of PEZA and the national government to contribute to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. These projects include the integration of SDGs to the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 and PEZA's participation in the Global Reporting Initiative.

PEZA is strengthening its ecozone development initiatives as part of the medium-term strategies under the PDP 2023-2028.

Panga explained that on top of the conventional ecozones, PEZA is venturing into new frontiers in ecozone development to cater to new industries and to promote emerging global eco-industrial park models in the Philippines.

"We intend to transform our ecozones and our registered export enterprises to be more sustainable, resilient and innovative and thereby make them competitive in the local and global value chain," he said.

So far, PEZA manages 422 economic zones nationwide which host 4,352 locator companies engaged in various industries including export manufacturing and IT-BPO.

Considered as one of the largest expositions in China, the CAEXPO is an international economic and trade event co-sponsored by the central governments of China and the ASEAN countries. It is one of the key projects that form part of the Philippine-China Development Plan and is a major promotional platform that supports the country's ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement.

PEZA is the lone investment promotion agency partner of the Department of Trade and Industry export promotion arm Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions for the CAEXPO participation.

Following this event, PEZA joined the Special Envoy to China for the Philippine Investors' Roadshow in Beijing, China on 26-30 September 2023.