Philippines: PEZA records 83.69% increase in investment in January 2023

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The Philippines continues to attract investments in its digital ecosystem as new metrics suggest an increase in the number of projects looking to set up shop in the country.

In a release shared with CoinGeek, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) confirmed the spike in the number of investments in January, an 83.69% increase from the figures of January 26. PEZA’s Officer-in-Charge Tereso Panga revealed that 19 approved projects were the main drivers of the growth spike experienced in the economic zone.

“The PEZA Board has approved a total of 19 new and expansion projects of ecozone locators and developer/operators expected to bring in PhP 6.393 Billion investments. This is 83.69% higher as compared to the PhP 3.48 Billion investments approved for same period last year,” Panga said.

PEZA’s projects run across export manufacturing, facilities, IT, and domestic enterprises. The largest investment opportunity of PEZA’s January investments was an ecozone development project, widely considered to bring PhP 4.116 billion ($76 million) in investments.

The economic zone authority anticipates a 10% increase in the value of investments for 2023 over the figures attained in 2022. If it achieved its ambitions, PEZA would have doubled the metrics of 2021, a massive feat by any standard.

“With the positive start of the year, we are bullish with our outlook this year, targeting a 10% investment growth based on the initial locator sector targets,” Panga said.

A work in progress for the Philippines

In January, PEZA announced that it was expecting an avalanche of Swiss investments in the country with a specific focus on the digital economy. Panga commented at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that an increase in investments in the sector could contribute a sizeable sum to the country’s GDP.

Experts have hailed Filipino regulators for the positive use of legislation to boost the adoption of DLT in the country while still exercising a measure of restraint over market participants.

“We’re probably more ahead than anywhere else,” Mark Vernon, Vice Chairman of the Fintech Philippines Association, said. “I’ve been to other countries where regulations stifle the growth, especially where it intersects with banking and fiat money.”

Watch: Turbocharging Philippines digitalization via blockchain