Panga seals ties with JICA to attract more investments, create jobs

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority has once again made significant strides in attracting more foreign investments that would create and provide more jobs for the Filipino workforce, following the sealing of a partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency or JICA and Japanese company Advantec Philippines, Inc.

The alliance was also deemed to break new ground in renewable energy to address the urgent issue of climate change.

In a statement from JICA, it said the tie-up is part of their Public-Private Partnership promotion program that utilizes Japanese innovations in implementing development cooperation projects.

JICA described the cooperation with Advantec and PEZA as "groundbreaking" and likewise strongly aligned with the Philippines' direction to roll out RE sources in addressing global warming, power woes, and fueling investments in economic zones.

"JICA has been actively undertaking its PPP promotion program that encourages more business deployment of Japanese companies in the Philippines. These Japanese companies introduce unique and advanced technologies and business models that are geared towards sustainable development. JICA keeps on supporting Filipino friends in line with the co-benefit approach. This co-benefit approach is important and realistic for a win-win situation, aiming for both development and climate benefits, where we do something good together – good for the people, good for our economy, and good for the planet," said JICA chief representative SAKAMOTO Takema.

For the part of Advantec, the company will introduce its unique solar power technology in the Pampanga Economic Zone with the capacity of an annual energy yield of 3.6 million kilowatts and the potential to reduce approximately 1,200 tons of carbon dioxide annually.

For the initial stage of the cooperation, Advantec will conduct a study to determine the viability of solar power technology operation in the ecozone, and how it fits into Philippine laws and regulations.

They will also identify with PEZA rooftops or land areas for the pilot project sites.

JICA added that such a partnership is powerful to also give potential RE investors ideas on the best pathways to participate in the Philippine RE landscape.

Earlier this year, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made a pronouncement to aggressively promote RE in the Philippines.

In his 2nd State of the Nation Address, Marcos Jr. announced that the Philippine target was to achieve 35 percent RE share in the power mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040 and added that the Philippines opened RE projects to foreign investments to accelerate the realization of this green energy goal.

As of November this year, PEZA said it has posted roughly P140.9 billion in investment approvals for the last 11 months of the year, stating that they are confident to surpass its P154 billion full-year target.

PEZA director general Tereso Panga said that from January to November 2023, total investment approvals hit P140.884 billion or 146.95 percent higher compared to the P57.49 billion they recorded in the same period last year.

Regarding actual exports, Panga said that as of September 2023, it stood at $47.791 billion, providing 1,780,604 direct jobs to Filipinos.

In terms of nationality, Japanese investors remain Peza's number one locator (27.34 percent share), followed by Filipinos (23.19 percent); Americans (14.82 percent); Dutch (11.68 percent); British (6.84 percent); Singaporeans (4.09 percent); Koreans (3.3 percent); and other nationalities which comprise 8.32 percent of total investments.