American companies should explore business opportunities in the country as the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos boosts initiatives to improve the country’s logistics and infrastructure.

PEZA director general Tereso Panga presented updates on logistics and infrastructure projects and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority’s (PEZA) plans and programs to complement initiatives during the recent Future of Logistics 2024 forum organized by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. (AmCham) in partnership with Santos Knight Frank and Aboitiz InfraCapital.

The Philippines is currently presented with rare opportunities that it can leverage to become a prime investment destination.

Among these initiatives are the China+1 strategy, the US CHIPS Act, and the US-Japan-Philippines trilateral agreement, among others.

“We also see our investors taking advantage of the upcoming Luzon economic corridor which will support connectivity among Subic Bay, Clark, Manila and Batangas as well as facilitate strategic, anchor investments within each hub in high-impact infrastructure projects,” Panga said.

PEZA also cited the Philippines as targeting about $100-billion prospects for investment deals from the US and Japan into EMS-SMS, Manufacturing and supply chains, clean energy, agri-business, rail, and port infrastructure development.

Moreover, the PEZA chief highlighted the Philippines’ consistently high economic growth compared to its ASEAN peers, making it one of the best-performing economies in the region.

He stated, “When the country has a robust gross domestic product growth, we attract more investments. This has been our country’s status for two to three years in a row and where in PEZA, we see a corresponding increase in annual ecozone investments since 2022, achieving a six-year high in 2023 to P175.7 billion.”

“We cannot pass up on the current developments and opportunities in ally-shoring as the Philippines is still in the sweet spot for attracting investments into the country,” Panga indicated as PEZA remains bullish in increasing its more than 300 companies with American equity in the Philippines and bring in more investments in the country and jobs for the Filipino people.

Panga also shared that the inclusion of Ecozone Logistics Service Enterprises (ELSE) in the new Strategic Investment Priorities Plan allows for more logistics companies to come in and support new investments, especially within the ecozones.

“If we can grow the number of our locator companies, all those in the supply chain, logistics, and others will benefit from it. PEZA is the microcosm of the bigger economy. If we see ecozones flourishing, we can also see a more vibrant economy,” he said.

Areas for improvement

During the panel discussion, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc.-Association of Logistics Managers chairperson Wilda Calderon said the country needs to address barriers to doing business.

She emphasized that the implementation of ease of doing business, especially in the government, is really a must.

Quantity Solutions president and CEO Engr. Rynor Jamandre also emphasized the need to address “fragmented government policies” as it is necessary to solve the challenges.

The Philippines is currently presented with rare opportunities that it can leverage to become a prime investment destination.

In response, Panga said PEZA is implementing several “leap-frogging” strategies to address the challenges in the supply chain, industrial, and logistics sectors and the process attracts more industrial investments, particularly in the ecozones.

Among the strategies include the automation of systems and processes to provide excellent service to clients with our unique brand of service; the creation of an off-dock container yard in the zones for a more effective container exchange proposed ecozone CFS, and the creation of a logistics park under PEZA’s new frontiers in ecozone development; multi-industry infrastructure convergence.