PEZA investments approval down 67.9% in Q1
The investment approvals of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) dropped by 67.9% to PHP8.14 billion in the first quarter of the year.
Last year, PEZA approved a total of PHP25.38 billion of investments during the January to March period.
In a press conference, PEZA Director-General Charito Plaza said that they have expected this decline given the ongoing pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the upcoming national elections.
Plaza explained that investors usually wait for the results of the election to know if new policies will be adopted by the new administration.
Aside from the administration change, the PEZA chief added that most Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) investors are now cautious in investing in the Philippines now that the government no longer encourages the work-from-home (WFH) set-up.
Moreover, she added that investors are halting their decisions to register their businesses in PEZA since the Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP) has yet to be released.
With the great drop in ecozone investments, PEZA officials urged the current administration to let the next leadership handle these issues.
“We will have a new administration. So we hope that the new administration will address this immediately,” Plaza concluded.
