THE PHILIPPINE Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said that it is hoping to attract more Indian locators and investors to the Philippines.
“As we set our sights on diversifying our ecozone investments and industries, it is imperative to keep India as top of mind source of FDI (foreign direct investment), exports and technology,” PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga said in a statement.
He added that about 27 technology companies and nine pharmaceutical companies have participated in one-on-one business meetings with PEZA.
“We focused on FDI leads from India’s vibrant pharmaceutical industry (drug manufacturing, pharma zone development, research and development) and IT frontier technologies (AI, blockchain, fintech),” Mr. Panga said.
He said PEZA is pursuing “new types of ecozones such as Pharmaceutical Ecozones, E-tech hubs and Knowledge, Innovation, Science and Technology (KIST) parks to promote innovation and niche product-technologies,” he said.
He added that seven information technology companies have also met with PEZA on the possibility of expanding in the Philippines.
Mr. Panga said that an Indian agro energy and renewable energy developer is planning to invest in a Bulacan ecozone for an embedded power generation facility.
He added that PEZA is hoping to pitch more global capability centers (GCC) to locate in the Philippines.
“GCCs are the next big thing in offshore business services that will (result in) higher value-adding activities to host economies including knowledge-based learning, localized innovation and technology transfer, increased pay scale for talent and revenue for government, and overall social progress,” Mr. Panga said. — Adrian H. Halili
