Date: March 2003

Fresh Investments at PEZA, Up 160 Percent in January

Fresh investments infused into the country's special economic zones surged by 161 percent (in peso terms) to P1.8 billion in January this year from only P704 million during the same month last year.

This amount represents new and additional investments committed by mostly foreign companies and approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), the governing body of public and private economic zones in the country.

It excludes investments approved by other agencies such as the Board of Investments (BOI), the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). Data from these agencies have yet to be released.

According to PEZA Director-General Lilia B. de Lima, the P1.8 billion new capital in January is expected to create 3,367 jobs and result in an annual export sales of US$186.637 million.

Last year, companies located within the country's special economic zones exported a total of US$22.776 billion, up by 16.8 percent from US$19.498 billion in 2001. As of 2002, these companies were employing 820,960 workers.

Data from PEZA show that the foreign top investors in January were Japanese computer components manufacturer Kyushu Matsushita Electric Corp. of the Philippines (PKME), Singaporean IT firm ICT Marketing Services of the Philippines (IMSP), and Japanese appliance manufacturer Matsushita Electric Philippines Corp. (MEPCO).

PKME, which is located at the Carmelray Industry Park II special economic zone in Laguna province (Southern Luzon), invested additional P847.5 billion for the production of slim CD-R/W drives and slim DVD combination drives. The investment is expected to yield export sales of US$88.56 million annually and provide 200 jobs.

IMSP invested P230 million for a customer support center that is expected to generate annual export sales of US$8 million and created jobs for 460 workers. Total investments in the information and communication technology (ICT) technology sector actually improved by 700 percent to P266 million in January this year from only P33 million a year ago.

MEPCO, which has been operating in the country since 1993, invested additional P205 million to increase its production of air conditioners.

The Philippine government hopes to attract more foreign capital this year, particularly from IT companies engaged in customer support and call center services.

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