By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Senior Reporter

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reported on Friday that its investment approvals fell 40% year-on-year in July, totaling P11.21 billion.

PEZA approved 17 new and expansion projects during the month, representing a 39.71% decline from the P18.6 billion recorded in the same period last year. Despite the drop in investment value, the projects are projected to generate $2.54 billion in exports — a 241.12% surge from the $744 million posted a year earlier. The approved investments are also expected to create 2,907 jobs.

"Despite the economic headwinds both locally and abroad, today's investments are increasingly moving back toward more export-intensive and higher-value operations," said PEZA Director-General Tereso O. Panga.

As the government corporation that administers the Philippines' economic zones and grants fiscal incentives to registered enterprises, PEZA is one of the country's primary vehicles for attracting export-oriented foreign direct investment. Its approval pipeline is closely watched as an indicator of how the Philippines is faring against regional competitors such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia, which are also positioning themselves as destinations for companies diversifying their manufacturing and services footprints.

Sectoral and Regional Breakdown

By industry, July's approvals comprised six export manufacturing projects, four information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) enterprises, three domestic market enterprises, two ecozone development projects, and two facilities projects.

Regionally, 11 projects are located in Region IV-A (CALABARZON), four in the National Capital Region, one in Region VII (Central Visayas), and one in Region XI (Davao Region).

Four big-ticket projects valued at P8.82 billion accounted for nearly 79% of the month's total approved investments. These include two manufacturing ventures in Batangas, an export enterprise in Davao del Norte, and an ecozone development in Cavite.

The leading sources of investment in July were the Netherlands, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the United States.

Year-to-Date Performance

For the first seven months of 2026, PEZA approved 174 new and expansion projects worth P151.9 billion, marking a 66.99% increase from the P90.96 billion approved during the same period in 2025. These approvals represent 50.3% of PEZA's P300-billion full-year target, leaving approximately P148 billion in additional approvals needed over the remaining five months to meet the goal. The sharp year-to-date growth stands in contrast to July's monthly decline, underscoring the lumpiness that large individual projects can introduce into month-to-month comparisons.

Year-to-date projects are expected to generate $5.91 billion in exports, a substantial rise from the $2.003 billion recorded in the comparable period last year, and create 26,047 jobs.

By sector, 76 approved projects were in manufacturing, 28 in IT-BPM, and 26 in ecozone development. The remainder spanned facilities (15), logistics (13), domestic market enterprises (10), tourism (4), and utilities (2).

Geographically, 141 projects are based in Luzon, 22 in the Visayas, and 11 in Mindanao.

The top investment sources for the January-to-July period were the Netherlands, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, and Germany.

PEZA said it remains optimistic about investment prospects in the second half of the year, citing companies' efforts to diversify operations and strengthen supply chain resilience amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainties.