THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is pinning its hopes on continued growth of the country’s semiconductor and electronics industry to duplicate, if not exceed, its investment takeup last year.
Last year, investments coursed through PEZA registered a 60% increase over 2006 propelled by new investments and growth in the electronics industry. Export products grew 16%.
“We are very bullish about 2008 and we expect to perform even better this year compared to last year,” PEZA director general Lilia de Lima said in a speech during the formal launch of the first PEZA container yard/container freight station in Camelray Technopark in Laguna last week.
“We anticipate better numbers and larger investments to be injected to the country’s semiconductor and electronics industries which we expect to exceed last year’s figure,” de Lima added.
“With the influx of more investments, we also expect to generate more employment for our people,” de Lima said.
Exports of electronic products are seen maintaining their 2007 growth of about 10% against this year.
Last year, combined investments approved by the Board of Investments and the PEZA rose 28.67% to P349.08 billion.
