Pasay City – The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) was recently awarded by Capital Finance International (CFI.co) as the Best Economic Zone Promotion in Southeast Asia for 2022.
First announced last month, PEZA Director General Charito B. Plaza expressed her gratitude to CFI.co for recognizing the Authority for its aggressive investment promotions of establishing economic zones all over the country and for relentlessly executing its sworn mandate of promoting investment, creating employment, and generating exports.
PEZA Chief Plaza said, “We warmly thank the CFI.co for this award. More than these recognitions and accolades, we assure everyone that PEZA will continue to serve our fellowmen, locator companies, and investors worldwide with our excellent brand of service, non-stop and one-stop-shop services in the ease of doing business [EODB] in our country.”
A London-based print and online publication on business, economics, and finance, CFI.co annually awards various individuals and organizations from all over the world based on their significant contributions to the local and global economy, adding excellent value, and providing the best services for stakeholders.
According to CFI.co’s official statement, “PEZA acts as a catalyst for sustainable development in the Philippines, focusing on manufacturing, tourism, industrial exporters, and land and building developers. It provides a complete service to investors, assisting with business registration, tax incentives, and operational support.”
Further, CFI.co also commended PEZA for “providing a complete service to investors, assisting with business registration, tax incentives, and operational support.”
Beyond accolades
Continuing to be the top investment promotion agency (IPA) of the country, PEZA contributes 64% of the Philippines’ exports of commodities and goods, 80% of export services to markets all over the world, and about 17% of the country’s GDP in 2020.
As PEZA continues to perform its mandate, PEZA Director General Plaza highlighted, “We aim to grow and expand our economic zones, particularly outside the National Capital Region (NCR) by virtue of Administrative Order No. 18 and geared by our Transformation Road Map (TRM).”
Further, PEZA Chief Plaza reemphasized that “despite the ongoing pandemic, it did not stop us from serving our fellowmen and stakeholders. Under my leadership, PEZA implemented ‘balancing acts’ and provided various business assistance and reprieves to our registered enterprises to ensure their unhampered operations and the safety of our workers despite various lockdowns and strict quarantine measures.”
“Because of these initiatives and the constant support from our locator companies, we are helping our country bounce back from the harsh effects of the pandemic,” added Plaza.
Aside from CFI.co 2022 award to PEZA, the Authority also received recognitions from the IFC World Bank, the US Department of State, and a consistent Freedom of Information (FOI) Awards recipient for its best practices among economic zones worldwide, no red-tape policy, regulatory transparency, enhancing the ease and lowering the cost of doing business in the Philippines.
PEZA’s positive performance
For 27 years now, PEZA manages 416 economic zones which host 3,557 locator companies. These companies contribute a total of P4.036 trillion in investments and $933.835 USD Billion in exports and employ 1.7 million workers from 1995 to 2021.
Under Director General Plaza’s leadership and the Duterte Administration from 2016 to 2021, PEZA was able to generate a total of P 807.8 billion of investments from 2,462 projects and USD$ 300.6 billion of exports. A total of 105 economic zones have also been proclaimed.
Likewise, PEZA is consistently remitting dividends and taxes to the national government. From 2016 to 2021, the Authority remitted PhP 5.611 billion, 8.05% higher as compared to the total dividends remitted by PEZA from 1995 to 2016.
Proactively promoting investments and the creation of ecozones in the countryside, PEZA, under its TRM, has established a promotion and marketing tool in the new normal wherein various stakeholders meet to discuss investment opportunities in the economic zones. Known as the “Global Biz with PEZA”, the Authority has already conducted a total of 20 Global Biz sessions since 2021 with various countries, national and local agencies, business groups and chambers, embassies, banking and financial institutions, and partners for investment promotions.
With the shift to a new administration, the PEZA Chief guarantees its stakeholders and the Filipino people that “PEZA is ready to collaborate with the new President, Vice President, and government officials in producing new projects and continuing existing endeavors towards attracting and inviting more investors and enterprises to invest in our country.”
To read more about PEZA’s CFI.co 2022 award, click the link here: https://cfi.co/awards/asia-pacific/2022/philippine-economic-zone-authority-peza-best-economic-zone-promotion-south-east-asia-2022/ #
