The Board of Investments expects the establishment of the proposed “ecological industrial zone” in Leyte to boost economic activity in the province, which was devastated by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” three years ago.
Sandra Marie Recolizado, who heads the BOI’s Industries Service Division, said the proposed zone would primarily help companies that use copper, including copper wire rod casting producers.
The government is focusing on copper as Leyte is home to the copper smelting and refining operations of Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. (Pasar), which operates within the 425-hectare Leyte Industrial Development Estate.
Pasar is the country’s only copper smelting and refining firm and is one of the biggest in Asia.
Pasar produces copper cathodes used in the manufacture of electronics, which are among the country’s top dollar earners.
According to Recolizado, the proposed industrial zone also aims to promote industry clustering to reduce businesses’ logistics costs and ensure reliable supply of power.
Leyte is home to one of the biggest geothermal power plants in the country.
Recolizado added that conservation and protection of the environment would be a major focus of the project, thus the concept of setting up an ecological industrial zone instead of a regular industrial zone.
The proposed industrial zone, she explained, is expected to provide services for waste management and recycling and be climate change-proof by ensuring that the buildings and roads can withstand natural disasters.
The proposal to put up an ecological industrial zone came from stakeholders in the copper industry, as part of the government’s thrust to “localize” roadmaps.
Such a move represented an example of how industry groups, which have already completed their respective roadmaps, could translate national plans into actual projects on the ground.
These projects are expected to boost the competitiveness of the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and generate the much needed jobs in the countryside.