INVESTMENTS registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) fell 27.98 percent in the first quarter following the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
At present, a big portion of ecozone locators or 59 percent remain on shutdown.
PEZA data showed investments in January to March fell to P16.5 billion from P22.9 billion in the same period in 2018.
But Plaza sees investment opportunities after the pandemic to attract companies that may transfer from China.
In a statement, PEZA director-general Charito Plaza said the continuing uncertainty posed by the rationalization of incentives under the pending legislative measures also persists at a time global investors are grappling with the virus.
Plaza said the first-quarter employment and exports figures are still being completed as the deadlines set for these submissions coincided within the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period.
Plaza said the effects of the global pandemic has taken a toll on PEZA’s performance as early as January to February when investments fell almost 6 percent.
Plaza said the pandemic had a tremendous and immediate impact on PEZA’s export manufacturers and exporters of information technology (IT)-enabled services as well as business process outsourcing.
IT investments plunged 42 percent to P2.23 billion in the first quarter from P4 billion last year with only projects approved versus 40 a year ago.
“Currently, PEZA has a lot of projects planned, pending applications that need to be
reviewed, expansion plans, construction of new plants and new investors to partner with. However, because of the pandemic, ECQ measures are to be strictly followed to help flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases so that the lockdown can also be lifted and we can safely go back to work,” said Plaza.
She said due to the ECQ, the PEZA board was unable to meet last March. Only 87 projects were approved in the first quarter versus last year’s 128.
But Plaza sees investment opportunities after the pandemic to attract companies that may transfer from China.
“There is a silver lining as export companies are looking to expand to other Asean nations, and not just simply invest in one country, to ensure business continuity in the event of another global crisis. We are hopeful that this will mean more business opportunities for the country and more job opportunities for the Filipino people” said Plaza.
She said the Philippines has a great advantage of having a strategic location as well as young and English-speaking workforce, As of April 20, 2020, only 66 percent or 835 of PEZA companies are operational in Luzon where the ECQ was imposed.
However, a smaller percentage of companies in Visayas are operational at 40 percent (176). Mindanao is hardly affected where 94 percent of companies (31) are in operation.
“As companies are continually adjusting to the ECQ situation, we have seen an increase of production from companies who are going back to operations, provided that they comply with the critera under the ECQ guidelines,” Plaza said.
