Peza eyes 13 new ecozones

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) is expecting government approval for 13 more economic zones  across the country, which is expected to bring in nearly P18 billion worth of investments.

Tereso Panga, Peza officer-in-charge and deputy director-general for policy and planning, said the investment promotion agency had this standing number of petitions as of October this year.

“Peza currently has 13 pending economic zones that we look forward to be proclaimed by the current administration. One is already endorsed to the Office of President Marcos, while 12 are endorsed to the Department of Trade and Industry,” Panga said.

The investment promotion agency said there were seven pending applications for manufacturing ecozones, four for IT (information technology) parks and centers, one for a knowledge, innovation, science and technology park, and another one for an agro-industrial ecozone. All of these ecozones are planned to be established in areas outside of Metro Manila.

Currently, there are about 420 economic zones strewn across the Philippines, 10 percent or about 40 of which are located in Mindanao.

Back in August, Peza held a three-day benchmarking guide for officials and staff of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in an effort to establish more economic zones in the autonomous region in Southern Philippines.

Meanwhile, Panga expressed confidence that Peza’s growth target of 6 to 7 percent this year is attainable due to their “aggressive investment promotions.”

Last week Peza hosted a consultative meeting with the Philippine Ecozones Associations (Philea) to discuss plans, updates and key concerns on economic zone development.

From 1995 to Mar 2022, Francisco Zaldarriaga, the group’s president, said that Philea ecozones had attracted P1.13 trillion worth of investments, generated $411 billion in exports, and provided employment to 378,395 workers.