Philippine Economic Zone Authority said investment pledges increased 5 percent to P78 billion in the first nine months from a year ago, in line with its target for the year.
“So far, we have now P78 billion or 5 percent up versus the same period last year. Traditionally, bigger investments are poured in the last quarter of the year,” said Peza officer-in-charge Justo Porfirio Yusingco.
Peza director-general Lilia de Lima retired in May 2016. Malacañang announced the appointment of former Butuan City Rep. Charito Plaza as the new head of the agency.
Yusingco said investments had not slowed down after the May election. “This means nobody is leaving the Philippines. I don’t see any slowing down of investments after election,” he said.
He said investments in ecozone developments reached the highest among all projects, followed by manufacturing.
Meanwhile, Peza plans to seek for an exemption from the moratorium in land conversion to build more economic zones.
“As of now, we barely have enough available lots in existing ecozones. We need to increase the number of ecozones because we have the momentum,” he said.