THE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said economic zone (ecozone) proclamations are likely to number 20-30 this year, based on the agency’s best-case target.
“We might be able to achieve that. Because if you notice lately, there are a lot of proclamations coming out,” PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga told reporters last week.
“So maybe 20 to 30 proclamations. That is our ambitious target,” he added.
The Palawan Mega Ecozone is among the ecozones it is counting for endorsement to PEZA this month.
“They’re ready to endorse it to us if not this month, next month. So once they endorse it to us, we will now apply it with the Office of the President for proclamation,” he said.
The endorsement will initially cover 4,000 hectares and eventually cover 28,000 hectares, Mr. Panga said.
The Palawan Mega Ecozone is a result of a memorandum of agreement signed between PEZA and the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) to redevelop portions of the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
He also added that BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang, Jr., has announced plans to develop another BuCor property in Sablayan, Mindoro Occidental, into an ecozone.
“That is far bigger than Palawan. They want to develop it into a township ecozone. I think that is a total of 200,000 hectares,” he said.
He said that the plan is to develop the mega ecozones through public-private partnerships and distribute the property to the private sector to develop their own facilities.
“We will offer the land as our equity and bring in the developers to put in money for all the amenities and facilities,” he said.
“It might be a big ecozone, but we are willing to split it into packets of development. What we are anticipating are probably huge agro-processing companies that will need, other than processing plants, their own plantations,” he added.
He also said the pharma ecozone that is set to rise in Luisita, Tarlac, will be developed by Lloyd Laboratories.
“They’re now complying with the requirements for presidential proclamation. So that one will be massive too because they have an American partner to do drug manufacturing,” he said.
“We are looking at three months for proclamations, so if we can submit by September, maybe towards the end of December it can be proclaimed,” he added.
Meanwhile, he said the PEZA board is set to approve billions worth of investments at the Victoria Industrial Park.
The PEZA board is scheduled to meet in Davao City between Aug. 14 and 16. — Justine Irish D. Tabile