The Philippine Economic Zone Authority will push for an increase in the investment threshold to a range of P3 billion to P5 billion from less than $1 billion for incoming projects locating inside economic zones.
“Ideally, the approval of big-ticket projects is reserved to the Fiscal Incentives Review Board. At present, we can only process projects less than $1 billion,” said PEZA director-general Tereso Panga.
Panga said the FIRB trained PEZA on cost benefit analysis of projects, making it easier for the agency to assess and approve projects without duplication. Having this authority will strengthen PEZA’s position as an IPA that directly promotes investments and interacts with investors, he said.
“Thus we can commit that the necessary incentives will be offered directly to investors instead of going through the FIRB for separate approval and confirmation of incentives,” he said.
Data showed that investments approved by PEZA grew by 53.99 percent in the first quarter to P12.53 billion. “We have achieved positive investments for this year’s first quarter and we can sustain this momentum in the coming months as we expect more inbound delegations of foreign investors. The best is yet to come as we further open up the economy and manage the external headwinds,” Panga said.