PEZA: Up to 30 more ecozones added by year-end

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) expects up to 30 new economic zones to be proclaimed within the year.

“If you notice lately, there are a lot of proclamations coming out. Twenty to 30 is our ambitious target (for the year),” PEZA director general Tereso Panga told reporters.

He said the Palawan Mega Ecozone is set to be endorsed for proclamation of the Office of the President within this month or by next month.

To be undertaken with the Bureau of Corrections, the project will cover 28,000 hectares in the Iwahig Prison colony beside Puerto Princesa City.

An initial 4,000 hectares has been transferred to PEZA for the first phase of conversion.

Panga said the PEZA is looking at developing the ecozone through a public-private partnership.

“So we will offer the land as our equity and bring in the developers to put in money, to put in all the amenities and facilities,” he said.

Panga said the plan is to have an ecozone that can be split into packets of development to cater to agro-processing companies that will need processing plants and their own plantations.

He also said a pharmaceutical ecozone is being developed by Lloyd Laboratories Inc. with a US firm for the manufacture of medicines.

“So they’re now complying with the requirements for presidential proclamation,” he said.

Under the Philippine Development Plan, ecozones are seen to play a vital role in attracting investments in the country.

For PEZA, the creation of more ecozones will help spur growth and development in the regions and create jobs.