Ecozone firms told to list their stocks

The local bourse wants to tap companies located in the country’s economic zones as part of its efforts to expand and diversify the structure of publicly-listed companies and consequently, boost trading volume with the entry of more investors.

Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) president Ernest Leung said the move would also "democratize" the stock market and make it a more effective barometer of the domestic economy.

"The companies listed right now at the Exchange probably do not mirror the performance of the economy. Among the economic growth drivers are the export-oriented companies in the economic zones. We should be able to define a strategy wherein we could open up these robust areas to the public," Leung said.

He said they have had discussions with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), which seemed open to the proposal but has yet to agree on certain conditions as such plans need to be synchronized with the existing practice of the Board of Investments. The BOI requires companies availing of the government’s fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for their projects to open up to the public within 10 years from availment of perks.

Out of about 1,000 ecozone locators located in the country’s 85 accredited ecozones, only less than a handful are listed – Ionics Corp., SPI Technologies and Active Alliance. Some of the leading property developers, on the other hand, have put up ecozones or cyber parks themselves, among them Megaworld, Fil-Estate Land, Filinvest Land, Ayala Land and Cebu Holdings.

Leung said, however, that foreign chambers, in particular, seemed uneasy with the proposal particularly as this would open up their businesses to a host of additional regulatory requirements on top of what the PEZA requires.

Nearly 80 percent of the ecozone companies are foreign owned or controlled, most of them from Japan, the US, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and other Asian countries.

Lately, the PSE has been actively campaigning for the listing of more firms to stir up the investment mix at the equities market and drive up the lean volume that has resulted in the termination of the costly afternoon sessions at the trading floor.