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By Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter
THE country’s economic zones
saw a surge in investments, exports and employment, according to the
Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), as existing locators and
foreign-based electronics and semiconductor suppliers sunk in new
capital and cranked up production.
Investments registered with the
PEZA as of June 13 hit P69.082 billion, or 201 percent higher than
the P22.90 billion the incentive-giving body recorded during the
same period last year, Lilia B. de Lima, the agency’s director
general, said.
In a report to Trade Secretary
Peter B. Favila, de Lima said that exporting locators posted a
20.7-percent increase in shipments to $12.86 billion in the first
four months of the year from P10.658 billion in the same period last
year.
PEZA employment also increased by
10.45 percent to 559,302 workers as of April this year from 506,391
in the same period last year.
“We are optimistic that the
growth in investments, exports and employment will be sustained for
the rest of the year especially because of the opening of new
sectors, that is agriculture, industrial and medical tourism
ecozones, in tandem with the buoyancy of the economy,” Favila
said.
PEZA has been targeting foreign
suppliers of existing PEZA companies, convincing them to put up
their own manufacturing facilities in the Philippines to supply not
only their existing clients but also other electronics and
semiconductor enterprises.
Besides electronics and
semiconductosr, there is also continuing inflow of equity from
information technology (IT) related services, particularly
call-center operations, de Lima said.
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