Investment promotions agency Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) seeks a nine to 10 percent growth in investment approvals among economic zones.

During a yearend media briefing on Monday, PEZA director general Tereso Panga said the expected growth anchors from the success of the year 2024 for PEZA after surpassing the target of P200-billion investments as of 30 November.

“PEZA surpassed its 2024 target of P200 billion in new projects after achieving P201.55 billion in approved investments from January to November, a 43.06 percent increase compared to the P140.88 billion recorded in 2023,” Panga said in his official reporter.

“We have also seen a significant increase in investments from South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Austria and Germany. On the other hand, the top industry sectors are still dominated by manufacturing, IT services and transportation,” Panga stated.

Non-traditional sources

He cited ecozone investment approvals from Liechtenstein, Samoa and Mauritius, highlighting these countries as non-traditional sources of ecozone foreign direct investments and exports.

“Ecozone FDI accounts for about 50.23 percent of PEZA’s total investment pledges for January to November 2024, a significant increase from 23.98 percent during the same period in 2023,” he said.