Philippine Economic Zone Authority Director General Charito Plaza (PNA file photo)
MANILA – The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has registered a total of PHP16.5 billion worth of projects as of March 2020, its director general Charito Plaza said.
This, however, is lower by 27.98 percent from investment pledges in January to March 2019 at PHP22.9 billion.
Plaza said PEZA Board has not approved any project registration last month due to the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
“Before the declaration of the ECQ on March 16, 2020, PEZA’s total approved investments from January to February 2020 were already down by 5.85 percent compared to the same period last year,” she said.
Number of projects approved in the first quarter of this year also plunged by 32 percent to 87 projects from 128 projects that registered with PEZA in the same period in 2019.
Employment in PEZA as of January 2020 stood at 1.56 million, adding 89,497 jobs or 6.1 percent more jobs, from 1.48 million jobs a year ago.
Moreover, export revenues of PEZA-registered firms increased by 8.24 percent to USD4.36 billion as of January 2020 from USD4.03 billion in 2019.
“Currently, PEZA has a lot of projects planned, pending applications that need to be reviewed, expansion plans, construction of new plants and new investors to partner with. However, because of the pandemic, ECQ measures are to be strictly followed to help flatten the curve of Covid-19 cases so that the lockdown can also be lifted and we can safely go back to work,” the PEZA chief added.
But Plaza said there is still a “silver lining” amid the pandemic as exporters operating in China are looking at expanding to Southeast Asian nations.
“The Philippines has a great advantage of having a strategic location in the globe, the endowment of fertile soil, and only two types of weather which means that we can plant the whole year. Additionally, our workforce is young and fluent in the English language. With more investors showing interest in our country, we must rebuild our economy after the crisis,” she said. (PNA)
