Manila: A Philippine trade official on Monday partly traced to tax incentives law and the new free trade agreement (FTA) the new investment inflows from South Korea.
According to Philippines News Agency, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Tereso Panga, who was part of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s delegation for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit and Related Summits in South Korea from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1, 2025, delivered a key presentation before Korean investors on the sidelines of the President’s APEC attendance. During the trip, Panga signed a Registration Agreement between PEZA and the Samsung Electro-Mechanics Philippines Corporation (SEMPHIL) for the latter’s PHP50.7-billion new project, the first major project that received benefits under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) Act and the new FTA with South Korea.
Panga said once registered business enterprises (RBEs) register with PEZA, they stay and expand their operations almost every year. He highlighted that over the past 30 years, many long-staying and continually growing locators have validated PEZA’s reputation as a competitive, service-oriented, and investor-friendly agency.
He emphasized that the generous CREATE MORE package of incentives, together with the new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Philippines and South Korea, will provide fresh momentum for deeper trade and investment ties, encouraging more Korean industries to follow the lead of SEMPHIL and its supply-chain partners. Panga noted that these policy instruments reflect the strong alignment between PEZA’s brand of service excellence and the Marcos administration’s commitment to fostering an enabling, predictable, and innovation-driven investment climate.
Last week, PEZA reported a 41.72-percent growth in investment approvals in the first 10 months this year to PHP175.37 billion, a bulk of which are projects by investors from the Philippines, Japan, Cayman Island, South Korea, China, and the US.
