THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) on Friday reported it had completed a four-city investment forum in Japan, in an effort to shore up a big decline in capital flows from that country.
Data showed Japanese investments in Philippine ecozones from January to July dropped 72.87 percent to P2.168 billion from P7.99 billion in the same period last year.
“This third PEZA mission is expected to reinforce Japan’s status as the topmost investor in PEZA,” Director General Tereso Panga said in a statement.
In the past seven months, South Korea has accounted for the biggest foreign direct investments in PEZA at P10.765 billion, followed by the United States (P3.240 billion), China (P2.620 billion), with Japan trailing.
Organized by industrial estate developer Science Park of the Philippines Inc., PEZA’s investment mission covered Hamamatsu, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo.
In his pitch, Panga cited the Jetro (Japan External Trade Organization) Survey in 2024, which outlined the advantages of doing business in the Philippines: less communication problems, low labor cost, market scale and growth potential, ease in recruiting local staff and tax incentives.
He also explained that the 19-percent tariff on Philippine goods entering the US is still lower than the 20- to 49-percent import duties imposed on other Asean countries.
Prospective investors who attended the forum represented the manufacturing, IT services, food and agri-equipment, mineral processing, transport, telecom, trading, real estate, construction and energy sectors in Japan.
In the Tokyo leg, Tsuchiya Kogyo, maker of decals, nameplates, labels, insulators and other printed products in LISP 3 (Light Industry and Science Park) in Batangas, committed to expand operations in LISP 4.
The Philippine delegation visited the Ichijo research and development facility in Hamamatsu. Ichijo, Japan’s biggest manufacturer of prefabricated greenhouses, is the principal company of the HRD group, a locator in the Cavite Economic Zone.
The HRD group, Panga said, has employed 25,000 Filipino workers, and is the biggest port user and shipper in Manila container ports.
It plans to open another facility in the country this year to increase its annual output of wooden house units for Japan, said Panga.
The PEZA mission was held in cooperation with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo chambers, Jetro and Sojitz Corp.
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