The top investor in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) in 2021 is Japan, whose total accumulated investments from 1995 up to the present is now at PHP 716.22 billion (USD 14.98 billion) or accounting for 27% of the total PHP 2.63 trillion investments approval logged by PEZA for the past 26 years. There are now 974 Japanese locators in various ecozones administered by PEZA.
Between the period January 2020 and April 2021 alone, a total of 16 Japanese firms registered new and expansion projects estimated at PHP 1.8 billion (USD 37.66 million) with PEZA. The new and expansion projects are expected to generate 1,142 jobs for manufacturing, information technology, and logistics businesses.
Japan is expected to be the country’s topmost investor in the coming years as foreign direct investment inflows can still be boosted by tapping more into the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement for improved market access to Japan, and the China-based Japanese SMEs and large manufacturing firms exiting mainland China for the Philippines.
Other top foreign investors in PEZA include the United States, Singapore, United Kingdom, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Saudi Arabia. The investors are engaged mainly in ICT, manufacturing, energy/utilities and real estate activities.
(Sources: Philippine News Agency; Manila Bulletin)
