Peza plans to put up 36 ecozones

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) is planning to put up 36 additional public economic zones in a bid to create more sources of revenue, a top official said, noting that only four had been established in the past several decades.

Peza Director General Charito B. Plaza told reporters yesterday that she was planning to put up two Peza-owned ecozones per region, eyeing possible joint ventures with developers to reduce the cost that would be shouldered by Peza.

As of January, there are 366 operating economic zones in the country, all are privately owned. Outside of this figure, only four are owned by Peza, she said.

“Every region must have two public ecozones. We don’t want to put out money so we will have joint venture with the developers,” she said.

The four Peza-owned ecozones—located in Cavite, Cebu, Baguio, and Pampanga—charge a monthly rental fee ranging from from P19 to P27 per square meter (sqm). On the other hand, she said private ecozones charge an estimated $5 per sqm each month.

A larger pool of Peza-owned ecozones would mean a bigger source of revenue for Peza, since it doesn’t get any share of the rental payments in the private ecozones. She said Peza got only a portion for administrative, export and import fees.

“If we have more public economic zones, the rent will be ours ours,” she said.

Plaza said she was considering following in the footsteps of ecozones in China and Vietnam which, she said, offered waiver of rental fees for 10 years. Although this would go against her objective to pool in more revenue sources, she said this could attract more investors to put up businesses in the ecozones.

Peza is currently developing a National Economic Zone Map, which would show available areas in the country for ecozone development as an easy reference for investors interested in expanding operations or setting up shop in the Philippines.