The Philippine Economic Zone Authority said investment approvals at economic zones reached P160.43 billion as of Dec. 15, up by 14.03 percent from last year’s P140.7 billion.
PEZA director-general Tereso Panga said he was expecting a few more projects to be approved before the end of 2023.
“This data is just partial. We may approve several more as the year closes,” he said.
PEZA reported a 13.92-percent increase in the number of projects to 221 from 194. Of the total, 202 are locator projects, while 19 are economic zone development projects.
Projected export receipts are expected to hit $3.71 billion, or 87.03 percent higher than $1.98 billion in 2022, while employment expanded by 12.99 percent or an additional 38,360 full time employees (FTEs).
Data showed that while PEZA approved twice the number of projects in the first two weeks of December to 24 from 13 projects a year ago, the value fell 740 percent to P19.55 billion from P83.645 billion in the same period last year.
Projected exports may reach $286.9 million in the first two weeks of December 2023, an increase of 408 percent from $56.46 million in 2022, it said.
Employment inside the economic zones also improved by 602 percent with an additional 4,515 FTEs in the first two weeks of December, up from 643 last year.
PEZA revealed 21 new investments from locator companies and three new economic zone development projects in December.