MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for the visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Melbourne, Director General Tereso O. Panga formed part of a unified country pitch to the Australian Business Community alongside Trade Secretary and PEZA Board Chairman Alfredo Pascual, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, and select private sector leaders. The President was also joined by House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Special Assistant to the President for Investments and Economic Affairs Secretary Frederick Go.

Key government officials also attended the forum, such as the Ambassador of Australia to the Philippines H.E. Hae Kyong Yu, and Philippine Ambassador to Australia H.E. Ma Hellen B. De La Vega, as well as heads of Filipino and Australian business chambers. The forum featured more than 120 participants from an array of sectors including Manufacturing, Energy, Infrastructure, Digital Health, IT-BPM, Logistics, and Housing.

Director General Panga highlighted Australia’s profile in Philippine economic zones and noted the increasing investments from Australia for the past 3 years. He also presented PEZA’s maturing industry ecosystems that feature global industry leaders, and world-renowned one-stop- and non-stop-shop, and ease of doing business initiatives. Echoing the call of President Marcos, Director General Panga said “our investors can rely on PEZA to lay out its signature ‘no red-tape, but only red-carpet’ treatment.”

For his part, Secretary Pascual urged the Australian business community to explore mutually beneficial economic partnerships with the Philippines, saying that “we see opportunities for Australian businesses to invest in the Philippines’ priority sectors such as critical minerals, renewable energy, education and training, and agriculture.”

The forum also saw the presentation to the President of 12 new business agreements totaling USD 1.53 billion between Filipino and Australian companies including among others those of long-time PEZA investors IMI and Filinvest – Clark Green City. The signed agreements cover crucial sectors for Philippine economic growth, including renewable energy (RE), waste-to-energy technology, countryside housing development, data center establishment, and health technology solutions manufacturing, and digital health solutions.

At the sidelines of the forum, PEZA Board Chairman Secretary Alfredo Pascual and Director General Panga met with Australian company Plentex to discuss its intent to set up an aquaculture farm and food processing facility in Leyte and Samar. The proposal falls squarely into the President’s food security agenda and one of PEZA’s priorities under the leadership of Director General Panga to pursue the development of aquamarine or blue ecozones in support of the proposed Blue Economy Act.

As of writing, PEZA is home to 130 Australian-owned companies, investing a total of PhP 14.28B, generating almost USD 1B in annual exports, and providing employment to more than 55000 Filipinos. ♦

Date of release: 05 March 2024

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