PEZA to revise growth targets as big investors enter Philippines

With the entry of big-ticket investors in electronics and shipbuilding this year, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) on Thursday said it would have to revise its growth targets.   “We expect projects from different sectors to come… "This would be a banner year for PEZA, PEZA director-general Lilia de Lima told reporters Thursday at the sidelines of Toyota Motor Philippines Corp.’s 500,000^th production unit line-off in Santa Rosa, Laguna.

  Beyond saying that most of the investments were already in the pipeline, she declined to identify the companies until the projects are underway.   PEZA expected P323 billion worth of investments this year, up 12-percent from 2011, including a 12-percent increase in employment and exports.   PEZA-registered investments reached P288.696 billion, up 41-percent from P204.394 billion a year earlier.   Pledges in the economic zones grew 47 percent to P16.223 billion in the first two months of the year, from P11.043 billion. Ninety projects — mostly in the electronics industry — were involved in these pledges, up from 63 a year earlier.   These investment pledges can generate an estimated $919.338 million worth of exports, according to PEZA.   The commitments came largely from Japanese investors, as well as Koreans and Americans.  — VS, GMA News