MANILA, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) on Tuesday said it has greenlighted 102 ecozone developer-locator projects with a capital investment of 80.585 billion pesos (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) for the first semester of this year.
The first semester investment approvals, the PEZA claimed, were two and a half times bigger compared to the same period last year.
PEZA Director General Tereso Panga said the agency promoting the establishment of economic zones in the Philippines for foreign investments is on track to achieve its targets for the year.
"We remain optimistic that we will sustain our positive growth trajectory for the second half of the year, given the notable increase in our key performance indicators on investments, jobs, and exports from a more aggressive whole-of-government approach in investment promotion," Panga said.
Panga said PEZA is ramping up its investment promotion and facilitation initiatives to bring much-needed foreign direct investments to the country.
"PEZA aims to develop more ecozones in rural and new growth areas and introduce new frontiers catering to emerging and niche industries," Panga said.
PEZA is also the Philippine government agency tasked to extend assistance, register, grant incentives to, and facilitate the business operations of investors in export-oriented manufacturing and service facilities inside selected areas throughout the country as PEZA Special Economic Zones. ■