MANILA, July 3 — The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported Monday that it approved a total of PHP268.36 billion investments during the first year of the Duterte administration.
PEZA Director General Charito Plaza said these investments came from 564 projects registered with the investment promotion agency (IPA).
Plaza noted that investors remain confident with the new administration as President Rodrigo Duterte stated that the Philippines is now more open to businesses.
It was noted that President Duterte’s trip abroad were mostly non-traditional sources of investments for the Philippines like China and the Middle East.
The PEZA chief noted that the visit of President Duterte in other countries has pushed investment interests in the Philippines from non-traditional sources.
Moreover, the IPA also generated a total of 73,043 direct jobs from July 1, 2016 to April 30, 2017 or the first 304 days of the Duterte administration.
In the same period, PEZA enterprises have contributed USD42.10 billion to the country’s export revenues.
Plaza said she is confident that PEZA will continue its strong performance in the next five years of the administration, creating more investments, jobs, and revenues for the country. (Kris M. Crismundo/PNA)