MANILA, Philippines – The country’s economic zones lost an estimated P25 billion worth of investments last year due to the port congestion, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said.

Elmer San Pascual, promotion and public relations group manager at PEZA, told reporters the investments intended to expand operations of existing locators were put on hold amid congestion at the ports last year.

“There were some planning to expand, but they could not reassure the head office. It took time for them to convince the head office to consider the Philippines because of the condition at the ports,” he said.

Containers at Manila’s ports piled up after the city government of Manila prevented trucks from plying streets in February last year, affecting exports and imports of firms.

Among the firms which suffered losses were manufacturers which had to import some raw materials and export products.

San Pascual said inquiries to invest in the country also slowed down last year after the locators’ operations were affected by the port congestion.

While Malacañang Palace has declared the congestion has been resolved and ports have improved throughput, some investors are still cautious due to concerns of a repeat of the problem.

“The confidence level of investors to expand is not there because they want to make sure there won’t be a repeat of the port congestion,” San Pascual said.

He said investors want the improved conditions at the port seen in the first quarter of the year to continue, with some waiting until the third quarter to make the investment decision.

Still, PEZA is hopeful it could get some of the investments put on hold last year and attract new locators given the latest developments at the ports, and as the country still offers advantages in terms of favorable economic conditions and available talent pool.

To encourage firms to make investments, PEZA director general Lilia De Lima is set to visit and meet with the business community in China, as well as countries in northern Europe such as Finland and Sweden within the year.

PEZA aims to achieve an eight percent growth in investments this year.

Source: http://www.philstar.com/business/2015/04/25/1447442/ecozones-lose-p25-b-investments-port-congestion-2014