PEZA investment commitments up 44% to P67 billion in January-May

MANILA, Philippines -  Investment commitments registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) expanded by 44.46 percent to P66.96 billion during the first five months of the year from P46.4 billion a year ago.

PEZA Director General Lilia de Lima said that more than half of total investments came from the electronics industry sector.

De Lima said the biggest investor during the review period was Danish firm Sonion Philippines. Sonion is a global leader in design of advanced miniature components and solutions for hearing instruments and advanced acoustics.

Meanwhile, the number of PEZA-approved projects grew by 20.75 percent for the first four months of the year to 192 projects from 159 during the same period in 2010. Employment generation, likewise rose 18 percent to 790,831 from 671,745.

Exports for the first four months likewise went up by 7.34 percent to $13.623 billion from $12.691 billion a year ago.

De Lima said they are on track in meeting their yearend goal of a triple double increase.

“We invite companies to please bring their projects in the Philippines after all we are the best place to invest today,” de Lima said. She noted that the labor cost here is very competitive and the only problem is the high power cost. However, given the number of government projects being done to help solve this she said the power situation would have eased by next year.

 De Lima cited a study by JETRO that showed that among the seven countries surveyed, the Philippines has the least number of problems for investors. The only problem cited by investors for the Philippines is the difficulty in local procurement of raw materials and parts. The other countries surveyed were Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, China and India.

De Lima said they are already working on addressing this problem by attracting smaller firms that produce raw materials to also locate in the country.

 De Lima said she was in Tokyo, Hamamatso and Nagoya two weeks ago in order to meet with Japanese firms. She said at least ten firms will visit the country within the year six of which are based in Tokyo. All in all the investments could reach P1 billion. One firm interested in coming in is a wig maker that supplies Africa.

Meanwhile, exports of electronics firms declined by one percent for the first quarter. Semiconductors and Electronics Industries of the Philippines Inc (SEIPI) president Ernesto Santiago said they see the same trend for the second quarter. He said it s likely that the second quarter will also be a decline in terms of exports.

“This (second quarter decline) is not a big issue to us because this is traditionally a low season. We are no longer in a panic mode,” Santiago told reporters.

He said the industry is set to recover in the third quarter fueled by high consumer spending because of the Christmas season. He said exports is expected to hit eight percent, the lower part of their eight to 12 percent growth target. For next year, he said they think they will be able to grow by 10 percent.