Dubai, United Arab Emirates – In earnest efforts to promote trade and investments in the Philippines, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is continuing to entice Middle Eastern investors who are engaging in various sectors like infrastructure, oil refineries, and ecozone development to choose investing in the country.
This comes as PEZA recently concluded the “Global Biz with PEZA” forum that featured the investors from the United Arab Emirates and Middle East last February 15, Tuesday, at the Kempinski Hotel in Dubai.
According to PEZA Director General Charito ‘Ching’ Plaza, “We continue to create partnerships as well as forward and backward linkages to strengthen our efforts in promoting investments between the Philippines and Middle East.”
“It is not just important to attract investors. It’s much more important to bring these investors to local [suppliers] and create entrepreneurship,” noted World Free Zones Organization (WFZO) CEO Dr. Samir Hamrouni.
PEZA Director General Plaza discussing investment opportunities in the Philippines
It is worth noting that there are a total of six Emirati enterprises registered in PEZA which contribute PhP 383.405 Million of investments, $19.027 Million of exports and employ 1,409 Filipino workers as of November 2021.
“Amidst the challenges of pandemic, we aim to constantly promote the ‘Galing Pinas, Galing Pinas’ (Made in the Philippines is the Best and Philippines is Best to Invest In) slogan of PEZA and entice Emirati and Middle Eastern investors engaging in various industries like oil refineries, infrastructure to look at various economic opportunities in the country,” Plaza added.
Her Excellency Hjayceelyn Quintana, the Philippine Ambassador to Abu Dhabi, who was also present during the forum noted that PEZA’s Galing Pinas tagline is “Highlighting in essence why incorporating the Philippines in your business translates to taking advantage to the country’s excellence.”
PH as an ideal investment destination
During her welcoming remarks, Ambassador Quintana shared that “Philippines will pose the strongest growth at 7.2% after the pandemic, way above the projected 5% for ASEAN member states.”
“This is well within reach given the Philippine Government’s ongoing efforts to increase the vaccination rate. Therefore, in this metric, the Philippines is your best bet for investment amongst the Southeast Asian countries,” she added.
Moreover, the PEZA Chief highlighted various benefits investors can enjoy when investing in the Philippines with which include the enjoyment of tax incentives when locating within PEZA zones.
Plaza likewise shared that under her leadership, PEZA continues to create various platforms to strengthen its efforts in performing its sworn mandate as an investment promotion agency (IPA) in the Philippines.
“We will not play hostage in this pandemic; rather, we continue to make strategies to attract and promote investments in the country,” said the PEZA Director General.
With this, Ambassador Quintana assured potential investors that “PEZA is here to assure you of the incentives and protections in place that will assuage your business-related concerns.”
“I hope that you will realize the importance of placing your enterprise in a country whose people will be your best partners in making your business grow,” she noted.
[From left to right] Director General Plaza, Her Excellency Hjayceelyn Quintana, the Philippine Ambassador to Abu Dhabi, and WFZO CEO Dr. Hamrouni addressing questions from the participants during the Global Biz with PEZA featuring United Arab Emirates last February 15, 2022
PH-UAE Bilateral Partnerships
Furthermore, Ambassador Quintana shared that the negotiations for the Philippine-UAE Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement have just been finalized and the two countries are likewise about to start the negotiations on the PH-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
“These two bilateral mechanisms will certainly expand further our relations with UAE in the trade and investment sphere,” noted the Philippine Ambassador to Abu Dhabi.
Agreement with the WFZO
During the forum, PEZA and WFZO also entered into a partnership to promote and support free trade zones worldwide in terms of trade and investment marketing and promotions.
The PEZA Chief noted that with PEZA’s partnership with WFZO, “We hope to be helping one another in promoting [WFZO] member countries so we can all have a share in the world [trade and investment] marketing and promotion.”
For his part, Dr. Hamrouni said, “I strongly believe that this is a win-win situation [for both PEZA and WFZO]. There are also a lot of experience that we can learn from PEZA in terms of global exports and the best practices.”
PEZA and WFZO inks agreement to partner in the promotion and marketing of free trade zones worldwide
Under the partnership, both parties have agreed:
- To provide the PEZA with the World FZO publications (emails, newsletters, documents, event invitations)
- To support PEZA and its related entities improve their efficiency, knowledge, capacity building, competitiveness, international visibility touching a broader audience and investors, through World FZO’s service and network.
- To assist member free zones to define their role in the nation’s economic development and provide them with an opportunity to play a leadership role
- To provide World FZO’s membership services and benefits (as detailed below) to free zone members of the PEZA to support them achieving their strategic objectives and enhance operational performance, as well as bring them new insights and learnings around best practices.
The PEZA delegation is in Dubai as part of the official Philippine delegation participating in the Expo 2020. The PEZA team also participated in the Country Business Briefing conducted in celebration of the Philippine National Day. Included in the PEZA delegation are: Deputy Director General for Policy and Planning Tereso O. Panga; Deputy Director General for Finance and Administration Justo Porfirio LL. Yusingco; Group Manager Aleem Siddiqui M. Guiapal and Division Chief Raison Dimaampao Arobinto of the Promotions and Public Relations Group (PPRG).
On the sidelines, PEZA also met with various investors including the Dubai Islamic Bank, DP World, Emirates Airlines and S.S. Lootah Group to discuss investment opportunities in the Philippines. #