Baguio ecozone posts 17.5% hike in exports to $2.98B

The Baguio City Economic Zone (BCEZ) reported yesterday that its exports for the whole 2003 amounted to $2.982 billion, 17.5 percent higher than the $2.539 billion recorded in 2002.

According to BCEZ administrator Sansaluna A. Pinagayao, the zone’s monthly average export is about $320 million and accounts for 99 percent of the Cordillera region’s total exports.

The BCEZ’s contribution to the regional economy of the Cordillera region, Pinagayao said, is estimated at close to 40 percent of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The BCEZ, Pinagayao added, directly employs 4,618 individuals with a monthly payroll of P89 million.

Furthermore, the BCEZ, Pinagayao said, generates an additional 20 percent employment through backward linkages. This means that for every five jobs in the zone, another one is generated indirectly in enterprises supplying goods and services to the zone.

The BCEZ has 12 export manufacturers and 12 service companies catering to the needs of the locators.

The BCEZ, Pinagayao said, continually upgrades its facility.

Most recently, BCEZ constructed a P95 million sewerage treatment plant for containing and delimiting the waste generated by the industries within the zone.