Pasay City – Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Tereso O. Panga recently concluded a three-day visit to Singapore, where he served as a panelist in the 4th Philippines-Singapore Business and Investment Summit (PSBIS) and the PSBIS C-Suite Conversations and participated in several one-on-one meetings with key business personalities.
DG Panga served as a panelist in PSBIS Panel 3: Innovate and CREATE – Transformative Technology and Advanced Manufacturing, alongside esteemed government officials Education Secretary Hon. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara, Science and Technology Secretary Hon. Renato U. Solidum Jr., and National Development Company General Manager Antonilo DC Mauricio. Panga highlighted the government’s fiscal incentive regime, which is already the most competitive among its ASEAN neighbors. In addition, Panga also provided a snapshot of a more generous incentive package that may be granted to big-ticket investments under the CREATE MORE bill.
Immediately after the PSBIS plenary session, DG Panga also served as an expert panel in the PSBIS C-Suite Conversations, together with Philippine Chamber of Commerce Inc. (PCCI) President George Barcelon and Aboitiz InfraCapital VP for Sales and Leasing Monica Trajano and VP for Inventory Generation Jolan Formalejo. This fireside chat was attended by key business leaders and government policymakers from both sides.
When asked how PEZA is planning to attract energy-intensive investments such as those in the semiconductor and EV manufacturing industry, which are seen as the most promising and high-impact sectors, particularly in ASEAN, Panga highlighted industrial power rates in some of its zones that are notably lower than the average cost of power in the country and can even approximate the subsidized power rates of ASEAN competitor economies.
“We are aware of the requirements of these strategic investments, and I say that our ecozone model is ready to address its most pressing need to have access to clean, stable, and cost-competitive energy sources,” Panga said.
He also highlighted the several notable companies headquartered in Singapore that have been operating inside PEZA Zones and are continuously expanding, such as Dyson, Amkor, New Kinpo, HRD/Ichi-jo group, and Knowles Electronic. To date, PEZA is home to 160 companies with Singaporean equity that have generated $2.0 billion US dollars in investments and 127,000 direct jobs for Filipinos.
The PSBIS is a high-level forum organized by the Philippine Embassy in Singapore headed by His Excellency Ambassador Medardo G. Macaraig and the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Singapore (PTIC-Singapore) under Atty. Carla Grepo, in partnership with BDO Unibank and Aboitiz InfraCapital.
Led by Finance Secretary Ralph Recto who delivered the keynote address, the high-level attendees from the Philippine government delegation include Secretary for Education Hon. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara, Secretary for Science and Technology Hon. Renato U. Solidum Jr., Secretary of Budget and Management Hon. Amenah F. Pangandaman, Secretary for National Economic and Development Authority Hon. Arsenio M. Balisacan and Chairperson of the Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Leo Tereso A. Magno, PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga, General Manager of the National Development Company Antonilo DC Mauricio, and President and CEO of the Bases Conversion Development Authority Engr. Joshua M. Bingcang. The other main speakers in the morning session were Ambassador Medardo G. Macaraig and BDO Unibank President & CEO Nestor V. Tan.
DG Panga meets with Officials of Hi-P Singapore Officers and ST Engineering
At the sidelines of PSBIS, DG Panga met with the officials of Hi-P Singapore and ST Engineering as part of PEZA’s targeted and aggressive approach to investment promotion, and its routine investor servicing and facilitation effort.
Founded in 1980, Hi-P provides advanced manufacturing and production, and assembly, testing, and packaging services to a multinational customer base, including consumer goods and electronics, e-commerce, and electric automotive companies such as Amazon, Colgate-Palmolive, Dyson, Keurig Dr Pepper, Logitech, Meta, Motorola Solutions, Procter & Gamble, Seagate and Tesla.
Being an existing PEZA-registered business enterprise (RBE), Hi-P currently operates manufacturing facilities in the First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP)-Special Economic Zone in Santo Tomas, Batangas. Represented by its Vice President of Overseas Business Unit Mr. Kee Kum Cheong, and Business Development Senior Director Mr. Derek Khoo, Hi-P provided DG Panga with plans for its Philippine operations and the bright prospects of re-expansion coinciding with the growth of its primary customer in Dyson, which is also operating as a PEZA RBE in FPIP.
Meanwhile, PEZA also met with ST Engineering, one of the largest Singaporean multinational technology and engineering group in the aerospace, smart city, defense, and public security sectors. Facilitated by PTIC-Singapore Commercial Counsellor Atty. Carla Grepo, the productive meeting provided ST Engineering with the investment opportunities available within PEZA zones.
Following DG Panga’s pitch, ST Engineering Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning and Business Development Ms. Geok Wan Loke remarked that “PEZA’s value proposition definitely ticks the right boxes for investors to consider the Philippines as an investment destination.”
PEZA and PTIC-Singapore both committed to continuing their push for ST Engineering to set up manufacturing capabilities in the Philippines by providing additional details regarding the country’s generous incentive package outlined in the CREATE MORE bill, which is now up for the President’s signature.
PEZA Visits Biopolis and A*STAR
As part of PEZA’s recent efforts to provide a better ecosystem for FDI in the pharmaceutical industry and to provide a stronger link between Philippine industry and academe, PEZA met with the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore.
Represented by Dr. Benjamin Toh of its Biomedical Research Council, A*STAR provided PEZA with an overview of the operations of Biopolis, a landmark hub for biomedical sciences research in Singapore. Since its inauguration in September 2003, Biopolis has earned a strong reputation in various disciplines such as cancer biology, bioinformatics, immunology, genomics, stem cell research, and bioengineering, positioning Singapore as a key player in global medical research.
Originally starting with seven buildings, Biopolis has expanded into an extensive research complex spanning over 3.5 million square feet, now comprising 13 buildings and housing a community of more than 2,500 scientists and support staff who benefit from cutting-edge facilities.
Following the visit, DG Panga remarked, “We look up to Singapore as a model economy and big brother in ASEAN whose learnings will help propel our country’s economic prosperity and contribute to our President’s bid to graduate to an upper middle-income economy. These are the practical learnings that we need to craft better and more responsive policies that will advance our pharma ecozone and knowledge, innovation, science, and technology (KIST) parks.” #