PEZA gets P88-B investments in Nov

THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported on Thursday it generated P88.341 billion worth of investments from January to November this year.

In a statement, PEZA said its board approved 318 applications for new and expansion projects during the first 11 months of the year.

Likewise, $45.085 billion worth of exports and 1.541 million jobs were created as of October.

“Compared last year, PEZA recorded P109.194 billion of investments and $45.340 billion exports, with 496 projects registered and 1,572,510 jobs generated for the same periods,” it added.

“While PEZA, like other investment promotion agencies (IPAs), may have experienced a decline in investment applications this 2020 which can be attributed the global pandemic and the localized lockdowns, and also the uncertainties brought by the pending Create (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises) legislation, PEZA remained on top of its mandate and think out of the box and doing great balancing acts,” said PEZA Director General Charito Plaza in a statement.

“We continue to be positive about opportunities for the Philippines to attract trust and confidence of investors and business groups whether in terms of new or expansion projects. We at PEZA continue to do our best to attract investors and help our economy bounce back,” she added.

PEZA earlier expressed optimism that investment pledges would reach more than P100 billion this year despite the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

As of writing, PEZA-registered companies are nearing to get back to their 100-percent operations by end-2020.