THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said it is on track to achieve this year’s P250-billion investment pledges target.
“We’re hopeful because we’re targeting P250 billion, but the ambitious target is P300 billion,” PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Semiconductors and Electronics Convention and Exhibition on Tuesday.
“With maybe three or four board meetings to go, we’re hopeful that we can realize more investments.”
Mr. Panga said that as of the end of October, PEZA approved over P170 billion worth of investment pledges. In October, investment approvals stood at P20 billion.
PEZA has yet to release a detailed breakdown of investment approvals for October.
Mr. Panga noted a decline in ecozone exports of finished electronic products to the US as the reciprocal tariffs caused a drop in demand.
“We have companies that reduced their production for export to the US, because there’s a huge drop in demand for their products; thus, the need to scale down,” he said.
The US began imposing a 19% tariff on Philippine goods on Aug. 7.
He noted that uncertainty over US tariff policy is “a cause for concern.”
US President Donald J. Trump also threatened to impose sectoral tariffs on chips as high as 300%.
At present, semiconductor exports are not included in the 19% tariff imposed by the US on Philippine-made goods.
“We’re hopeful that it will remain that way for EMS (electronics manufacturing services) products, being our biggest sector in the Philippines.”
Meanwhile, PEZA has yet to see the impact of the infrastructure corruption scandal on investment pledges.
“As we speak, it’s all positive for PEZA when it comes to investments, exports and jobs. Investments have been going up, upward trajectory, so we don’t feel that yet,” Mr. Panga added. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz