The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is working on realizing the billions worth of investment pledges that poured in the country after President Ferdinand Marcos’ trip to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) released a report following a media conference last Saturday were PEZA Deputy Director General Aleem Siddiqui M. Guiapal has announced that investments approved by the PEZA jumped 103 percent to P140.7 billion for the last quarter of 2022.
During the said forum, Guiapal said that PEZA is now working on arranging for the visits of investors in various locations in the country and ensures a smooth follow-through on commitments made.
“We arrange for their visit na mapuntahan iyong mga location. In fact, recently ay nag-materialize na iyong isa sa mga investment last year, for example, if you’re familiar iyong bagong investment na pumasok sa amin sa SATECO – ito po ay isang kumpanya mula sa Switzerland, nag-invest dito sa ating location sa SATECO (industrial park) in Pampanga,” said Guiapal.
Guiapal also shared that some of the businesses have already eyed some locations for their investments in the country.
“So, when they came here, noong nag-pledge sila, ang unang ginawa ng ating ahensiya ay nakipagpulong po kami sa kanilang top management. Minsan po kailangan puntahan ng management ang PEZA sa ibang bansa, mayroon din naman pong pamamaraan na sila iyong pumupunta dito, iniikot natin sila sa mga lokasyon kung saan sila puwedeng mag-locate,” the PEZA chief pointed out.
Earlier this month, the investment promotion agency (IPA) had sent a delegation to Washington DC, United States on January 8 to 13, which is a follow-up visit of Marcos’ trip last year.
They met with business executives in agri-business, the semiconductors and electronics industry, and information technology and business process outsourcing, among others.
“We are very busy this January. We have a lot of prospective investors visiting us,” he said, noting that some of the investors are from countries where Marcos had state visits.
The success of the President’s trip to Davos according to PEZA has lured in several multinational companies and investment firms who are all interested in investing in the country.
During his Davos trip, the President was joined by Philippines’ top tycoons including Sabin Aboitiz (Aboitiz); Kevin Andrew Tan (Alliance Global); Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (Ayala Group); Lance Gokongwei (JG Summit Holdings); Ramon Ang (San Miguel Corp.); Teresita Sy-Coson (SM Investments); and Enrique Razon (International Container Terminal). PLDT and Smart owner Manuel V. Pangilinan also showed his support by attending the dinner hosted by the chief executive officers (CEOs) for the President Marcos in Davos.
Last year’s biggest investments came from 29 economic zone developments with combined value of P96.21 billion.
