MANILA - A number of international medical and pharmaceutical firms will invest and will soon set up shop within the country's economic zones, an official said Wednesday.

Due to the influx of investments in the field, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has developed the country's first pharmaceutical ecozone called the First Bulacan Business Park in Malolos, City, PEZA director-general Charito Plaza told ANC.

One firm will invest P571 million in the country while other Israeli and Indian pharmaceutical companies are in the process of getting their permits approved, she said.

"Coming in mostly medical are pharmaceutical companies. We are now asking these new investors on medical and pharmaceutical firms to prepare documents so we can approve this immediately in the PEZA board," Plaza said.

"It’s a miracle on the side of PEZA because we never played hostage to COVID, to the pandemic," she said.

• Fil-Israeli firm to set up COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing plant in ecozone: PEZA

Despite the pandemic, the agency has contributed to the increase in foreign direct investments. The number of projects rose 5.31 percent while export income rose for the first 6 months of 2021 by 21.636 percent, she added.

The number of workers, which decreased in 2020 to 1.4 million, has now recovered to 1.6 million, Plaza added.

She said more would be developed in areas nationwide to attract "all industries in the world."

Plaza said there are 417 operating economic zones in the country.

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv