By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINE Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is hoping to attract more Chinese investments in key sectors, including electronics and automotive, amid increased interest from Beijing.

PEZA Director-General Tereso O. Panga said he is participating in an investment mission in Shenzhen, which will last until Friday.

“They have good reception for the Philippines. In fact, investments from China were bigger compared to Japanese investments for the January-to-April period,” Mr. Panga told BusinessWorld.

Asked what the areas of interest for the mission are, he said, “electronics, electric vehicles, automotive, renewable energy, storage solutions, and textiles, among others.”

As of end-2024, PEZA hosted 118 Chinese locators accounting for over P8 billion in investments and more than 16,000 jobs.

Mr. Panga noted that investments coming from the United States, South Korea, and China have increased in the first few months of 2025 despite lingering geopolitical uncertainties.

In the January-to-April period, PEZA approved P63.523 billion in investment pledges, surging by 112.06% from P29.955 billion in the same period last year.

Most of the investments came from South Korea, the US, and China, which accounted for P10.45 billion, P2.53 billion, and P2.17 billion, respectively.

These brought total investment approvals under the Marcos administration to P574 billion, which are expected to create over 160,000 jobs.

PEZA is also eyeing proclamations of at least 30 new economic zones this year, particularly in Central Luzon, Cebu, and Mindanao.

INVESTMENT FACILITATION
Facilitating investments, improving the business environment, and streamlining government processes will help propel Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) growth to as high as 8-10%, according to the Research, Education, and Institutional Development (REID) Foundation, Inc.

“We can start dreaming of 8% towards the second half of the next administration. But right now, I think we should be happy to increase that by at least 6.5%,” Ronilo M. Balbieran, e-commerce, digitalization, infrastructure, policy, and planning specialist at REID, told reporters on the sidelines of an Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) event on Thursday.

“I believe that we will hit 6.5% growth within the next three years, and hitting 8% will be in the first half of the next administration. But the challenge is to have it consecutively, and I think we can hit that in the second half of the next administration.”

However, this high-growth path can only be achieved if the government is able to “completely, consistently, and systematically” implement its streamlining and digitalization efforts, Mr. Balbieran said.

“If you are able to facilitate the creation of businesses and registration of investments for them to fully realize their investment plans, then actual businesses and jobs will be created and incomes will be earned that will lead to increased consumption,” he said.

“That is what is called the circular flow of income, where you can actually expand the economy because you will have production, employment, and income spending. That is the role of the government: to make sure that the circular flow of income continues to circulate.”

Apart from streamlining processes, he said the government should further push digitalization through the passage of the E-Governance Act.

“First you streamline, and then you digitalize. Because even if you streamline, if you do not digitalize, people will still be going to the government offices,” Mr. Balbieran said.

If the government can deliver interconnected services, including sharing information across agencies, businessmen and potential investors will be able to save time on documentary and other regulatory requirements.

“If that time is saved, it can be refocused on actually creating more ideas for businesses and how to create the next product. It’s a waste if you’re in line at a government agency when you could have just been thinking about team building and strategic planning for the company,” he said.

“That will let them actually create more ideas. Business creation is nothing but creating ideas for what the people need and then producing them so that jobs are created and incomes are made.”

This is essential for the more “sophisticated” sectors like transportation, telecommunications, mining, and energy, he added.

“Those are crucial industries in which, although we have actually made significant progress in streamlining the processes and reducing documentary requirements, I think there is much reform to be made moving forward. We still have a lot to improve.”

ARTA Secretary Ernesto V. Perez said his office is working with the Asian Development Bank in uploading the end-to-end inventory of regulations for renewable energy (RE) and digital connectivity by the second quarter for easier reference for potential investors.

“The cost of doing business in the country is quite high, so by doing this, we will be able to reduce the energy cost by streamlining the permitting process for RE and digital infrastructure projects,” he said.

“This is a policy-based loan arranged by the Department of Finance… We are also working out other sectors like responsible mining, water management, mining, semiconductors, and socialized housing,” he added.

These sector-focused initiatives are on top of the 30,000 regulations that will be uploaded in the Philippine Business Regulation Information System (PBRIS) through their partnership with the University of the Philippines (UP) Office of the National Administrative Register (ONAR), Mr. Perez said.

Government agencies are required to register their regulations with the UP ONAR, which ARTA can tap through the partnership to expedite the process of filling up the PBRIS.