PEZA investments up 54% in June

MANILA, July 11 (PNA) – The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) registered total investments of P10.98 billion in June this year, up by 54 percent from P7.13 billion in the same month last year.

Lilia B. De Lima, PEZA director-general, noted this is the second consecutive month this year that investments went positive from negative growth in the first four months of the year.

“We are seeing some silver linings over the horizon and we hope this would be sustained in the second semester,” De Lima said.

Based on the PEZA data, there were 50 projects approved in June as against 46 projects in June 2008 or an improvement of 8.7 percent.

These projects are expected to generate 11,784 jobs once fully operational or 49.85 percent more than the estimated projects to be generated from the investments in the same month last year.

De Lima said these projects have export revenue potential of $ 339 million or 51 percent higher than the $ 164 million registered in the same period last year.

She cited the investment contribution from the IT sector, which comprised about half of the total investments for the month of June.

“Investments in the IT sector amounted to P4.754 billion or 255.88 percent higher than P1.336 billion in June last year,” De Lima said.

There were three big electronics firms that registered their expansion programs in June with combined investments of P2.25 billion.

The rest of the approved projects include 14 new projects with P359 investment cost and four expansion projects worth P4.394 billion.

De Lima said all indications point to the early stages of recovery for PEZA’s investments figure.

“All growth indicators, except exports, are positive starting in the month of May,” she noted. Most of the PEZA-registered investments are electronics exports.

In May alone, PEZA’s investments went up by 18.19 percent to P9.75 billion against P8.25 billion in the same month last year with 48 projects approved versus of May last year.

For this year, PEZA is targeting 10-percent growth in investments, five percent in exports and five percent in employment generation over 2008 figures.

PEZA finished 2008 with total investments of P154.8 billion exceeding 2007’s P133.7 billion total investments haul by 15 percent as the number of projects went up 18.20 percent to 513 from 434 in 2007.

The only negative in their performance is the exports figure, which slightly declined by .88 percent to $ 40.527 billion from $ 40.889 billion in 2007.

“I don’t want a flat rate but don’t be surprised if we double our growth targets for the year,” De Lima said.

De Lima anchored their upbeat economic projections on new prospects for new investment areas that would offset the losses from the manufacturing sector.

These new investment areas are tourism ecozones, medical tourism special ecozones, retirement special economic ecozones and agro-industrial ecozones.

“We have to create new investment areas because we do not know when electronics become robust again,” he said.

De Lima even said they opened 2009 with a good sign as serious interests from these new sectors poured in.

She, however, refused to give details for fear these might jeopardize ongoing relocation plans into the country.

De Lima was particularly positive on the agro-industrial ecozone, which she said, has already attracted two Korean investors.

On top of the new sectors, she said, the IT services sector continued to be robust as well as investments in the shipbuilding industry.

“Opportunities under this global financial meltdown are expected to be created in Asia and we are Asia,” De Lima said.