The Philippine Economic Zone Authority highlighted its accomplishments in the last 27 years that culminated in P4.036 trillion in cumulative investments and $933.83 billion in exports.
PEZA director-general Charito Plaza said during the agency’s founding day that full-time economic zone employees reached 1,782,913 million as of December 2021.
“Marking our 27th charter year is no ordinary feat. With the authority’s relentless efforts fueled by its mandate to promote investments, generate exports, and create employment our registered economic zones in 1995 grew from 16 to 415 special economic zones managing 4,665 locator companies this 2022,” she said.
Investments during Plaza’s tenure amounted to P807.83 billion, with 88 proclaimed special economic zones under the current administration.
PEZA said exports from economic zones were resilient during the pandemic. In 2021, total merchandise exports rose 14 percent to $63.06 billion from $55.3 billion in 2020. Employment at economic zones was also brisk, increasing 13.9 percent to over 1.7 million from 1.5 million workers in 2020.
Plaza said PEZA was one of the investment promotion agencies that managed to keep exports and employment going when almost every sector came to a standstill during the pandemic.
“PEZA together with the national government, locators, foreign chambers and partner investors have become more resilient, more innovative, and more flexible in this ‘new normal’,” Plaza said.
“On the part of PEZA, as we relentlessly pursue to attract more foreign direct investments to the Philippines, we are also continuously implementing our ‘balancing acts’ to protect and maintain the jobs of millions of Filipino workers,” she said.
PEZA celebrated its 27th anniversary on Feb. 24.