By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Senior Reporter
INVESTMENT APPROVALS by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) slumped by 40% to P11.21 billion in July, it said on Friday.
In an announcement, PEZA said its approved 17 recent and expansion projects such as P11.21 billion, a 39.71% drop from the P18.6 billlion approved in the identical month last 12 months.
The projects are expected to generate $2.54 billion in exports, a 241.12% increase from the $744 million recorded last 12 months.
The approved investments are seen to generate 2,907 jobs, it said.
“Despite the economic headwinds each locally and abroad, today’s investments are increasingly moving back toward more export-intensive and higher-value operations,” PEZA Director-General Tereso O. Panga said.
By industry, July approvals include six export manufacturing projects, 4 information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) enterprises, three domestic market enterprises, two ecozone development projects, and two facilities projects.
Eleven of the projects are in Region IV-A (CALABARZON), 4 within the National Capital Region, one in Region VII (Central Visayas), and one in Region XI (Davao Region).
The July approvals included 4 big-ticket projects value P8.82 billion, which accounted for nearly 79% of approved investments for the month. These include two manufacturing projects in Batangas, an export enterprise in Davao del Norte, and an ecozone project in Cavite.
The highest sources of investments in July were the Netherlands, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the US, PEZA said.
In the primary seven months of the 12 months, PEZA approved 174 recent and expansion projects valued at P151.9 billion, up 66.99% from the P90.96-billion approved in the identical period in 2025.
Approvals within the seven-month period accounted for half or 50.3% of PEZA’s P300-billion goal for 2026.
The investments are expected to generate $5.91 billion in exports, a big increase from the $2.003-billion export value recorded last 12 months. These projects are expected to generate 26,047 jobs, PEZA said.
About 76 of the approved projects were in manufacturing, 28 in IT-BPM, 26 in ecozone development, while the opposite projects were in industries like facilities (15), logistics (13), domestic market (10), tourism (4), and utilities (two).
By location, 141 projects can be in Luzon, 22 within the Visayas, and 11 in Mindanao.
The highest investment source for the period was the Netherlands, followed by South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, and Germany.
PEZA said it’s bullish on its investment prospects within the second half as firms seek to diversify their operations and boost supply chain resiliency amid geopolitical uncertainties.