The first four months of the year have been phenomenal for the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), as it approved more than P63 billion worth of projects — more than doubling the approvals made during the same period last year.

Latest data from the investment promotion agency showed that its governing PEZA Board approved P63.523 billion worth of projects from January to April 2025, marking a 112.06 percent increase compared to the P29.955 billion approved from January to April 2024.

The approved investments are projected to create 24,920 direct jobs and generate projected exports of $846.735 million.

Taking a significant chunk of the P63 billion worth of projects were seven big-ticket ventures amounting to P49.81 billion.

For April alone, the PEZA Board, under the chairmanship of Trade Secretary Cristina Roque, approved 20 new and expansion projects worth P4.575 billion. These are expected to bring in more than 9,000 jobs and generate above $300 million worth of exports.

The 20 projects consist of export manufacturing (7), IT-BPM (5), facilities (4), utilities (2), logistics (1), and domestic market (1) ventures. They will be located across the NCR, CAR, Region III, Region IV-A, and Region VII.

However, the April numbers are slightly lower compared to the 27 investments approved in March, which amounted to P6.014 billion.

Meanwhile, the top country investors from January to April were South Korea, the United States, China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore — indicating that foreign direct investment flows into ecozones are benefitting from the country’s newly signed free trade agreement with South Korea and the emerging China+2 strategy in the region.

“PEZA’s continued upward trajectory reflects our strong commitment towards investment promotion and facilitation. Despite the geopolitical challenges, this momentum reflects renewed investor confidence in the Philippines as a resilient and globally competitive destination,” said PEZA Director General Tereso Panga.