PEZA investments rise 13% to P175 billion

MANILA, Philippines - The amount of committed investments registered at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) grew 13.3 percent this year as electronics companies continued to expand despite the impact of the global financial crisis.

In a press conference, PEZA Director General Lilia B. De Lima said the agency was able to secure P175.365 billion worth of investments, more than the P154.774 billion recorded last year.

PEZA’s figures are in contrast to the investment figures reported by the Board of Investments (BOI), the other agency under the Department of Trade and Industry tasked to attract investors. The BOI said its registered investments are expected to decline this year.

In fact, De Lima said their tally is expected to rise further as it has not yet reflected the expansion of Texas Instruments, estimated to cost P15 billion.

Likewise, she expressed confidence that they will continue to grow next year. “Next year will be a better year.”

She said their target is to increase the investment figures by 15 percent in 2010 to P201 billion. “This will be difficult but we need to catch up with other countries.”

De Lima said they will concentrate on manufacturing next year, pointing out that they prefer manufacturing firms since they build facilities.

De Lima said that PEZA has met all its targets except for the employment figures. Employment contracted 3.27 percent this year as jobs created registered at 79,435, lower than the 82,123 jobs created a year ago.

The number of projects registered by PEZA totaled 502, lower than the 513 projects last year. The biggest investment for the year was made by Japanese firm Taganito, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. and Nickel Asia Corp. The group put in P62 billion for its mining operations.

In terms of the number of investors, De Lima said many come from the electronics sector. “They dominated the investments because even at the height of the financial crisis, electronics companies continue to expand just like Toshiba.”

During their last board meeting, De Lima said that they approved an expansion project of a Japanese electronics firm worth P9.2 billion. They also approved a new investment for a 100-percent British firm for a P1.12 billion manufacturing operations.

For exports, De Lima reported that they project a 110.58 percent increase to $11.51 billion from $5.466 billion a year ago. However, as of November, year to date figures show a 22 percent decline.