Investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) increased by 4.21 percent in the January to September period this year, driven by a surge in September.

In a statement yesterday, PEZA said it approved 179 projects amounting to P115.887 billion from January to September. This is higher than the P111.207 billion worth of investments cleared in the same period last year.

The approved projects are expected to generate $2.513 billion in exports and create 35,871 direct jobs.

For the month of September alone, the PEZA approved 16 new and expansion projects expected to bring in P54.192 billion in investments, 285.87 percent higher than the P14.044 billion investments in the same month last year.

'Thus far, these projects stand out as the largest investment approvals of the year,' the PEZA said.

It said this month's board meeting also saw the approval of PEZA's first big ticket investment under the Marcos administration, a P50- billion project, which may be eligible for an incentive package for highly desirable projects under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.

The approved investments in September are expected to generate $541.04 million in exports and provide 4,044 new jobs for Filipinos.

Of the 16 projects approved in September, eight are focused on export manufacturing, five are in the information technology-business process management sector, one in facilities development, one dedicated to ecozone logistics services and another one in ecozone development.

In terms of location, 11 of the approved projects in September are in the Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon).

Meanwhile, two are located in Cebu, two are in the National Capital Region and one is in Pampanga.

The PEZA said the latest investment data strengthens the outlook of reaching the agency's P200 billion investment approvals target for the year.

Following the ratification of the Philippine-South Korea free trade agreement and the expected passage of the CREATE to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy bill, which seeks to amend the CREATE Law, the PEZA also sees a bright outlook for foreign direct investment inflows.

'As such, and with the country being touted as the next tiger economy in the region - we in PEZA remain positive that our target forecast will be achieved for 2024,' PEZA director general Tereso Panga said.

If the P200 billion target is realized, this year's PEZA investment approvals will be higher than the P175.7 billion recorded in 2023.

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