Peza approves ₧13-B investments in March

THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) approved this month P13.19 billion worth of investments, which are seen to generate 2,447 job opportunities. The regulator of economic zone locators, in a statement on Thursday, said that the total investments comprised 33 projects, 29 of which will be located in Luzon. The rest will be placed in Visayas and Mindanao.

Among the 30 projects of registered business enterprises, 12 are for export, 11 for information technology, five for facilities, one for logistics and one for utilities, Peza enumerated.

The other three projects, meanwhile, are for ecozone development projects.

The projects approved by the authority covers the applications it received in February and March.

“We thank our locator companies for continuously trusting Peza and for believing the potentials that the Philippines have despite the onslaught of this current pandemic

crisis,” Peza Director General Charito Plaza said. “Peza indeed continues to implement its brand of excellence, one-stop-shop and continued operations albeit observing strict health and safety protocols for the safety of all.”

Plaza said the approval of new projects and investments is “the agency’s positive action to continuously support the Philippine economy in our endeavor to maintain our competitiveness for investments despite the impact of Covid-19.”

Peza saw a decline in investment approvals as the lockdown measures amid the pandemic discouraged expansion plans among locators last year. The total investments approved by the agency in 2020 reached P95 billion, or 19 percent lower than the P117.54 billion it registered in 2019. Projected employment from these investments is 72,703.

This year, Peza is hoping to book P100 billion worth of investment pledges.

“We at Peza are doing our best to become part of the solution during these trying times. We will continue to turn the threats into opportunities and help the Philippines achieve its goal of becoming an investment haven in Asia and around the globe,” Plaza said.

In a statement earlier this week, Plaza expressed support for passage of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) bill, which was recently approved by the bicameral conference of the Senate and House of Representatives.

CREATE eyes to cut the corporate income tax (CIT) immediately to 25 percent from 30 percent upon effectivity. The CIT will then be reduced further by 1 percentage point every year from 2023 to 2027 until it reaches 20 percent.