More ecozones in Mindanao pushed

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) are pushing for the creation of economic zones in Mindanao in line with President Duterte’s directive to promote economic activity in the countryside.

Following the issuance of Administrative Order (AO) 18 which imposes a moratorium on processing of applications for ecozones in Metro Manila to promote rural development, PEZA director general Charito Plaza recently met with MinDA officer-in-charge chairman Nathaniel Dalumpines to discuss potential areas where ecozones could be put up in Mindanao.

PEZA has an existing partnership with MinDA, even prior to the promulgation of AO 18, through a memorandum of agreement the agencies entered into in 2017, for establishment of agri-economic and special economic zones in Mindanao.

“Local government units which for a long time have been host of ecozones like Cavite, Mactan, Baguio City, CALABARZON region, Bataan, Clark and Subic are very progressive, productive, and rank highest in contributing to gross domestic product, in social progress, and they have the lowest poverty and crime incidences. They enjoy peace and prosperity. Thus, we want such progress replicated in the countryside, in Mindanao, and other poorer and security-challenged provinces nationwide. We aim to spread economic development and opportunities to more localities,” Plaza said.

For his part, Dalumpines said AO 18’s issuance is expected to encourage ecozone developments in Mindanao.

 “AO 18 now provides Mindanao a great opportunity to proactively shepherd ecozone development outside growth centers, propel sustainable economic activities, generate more jobs, and increase agricultural and rural enterprise productivity, thereby optimizing export potential,” he said. 

“Since the forging of partnership between MinDA and PEZA, as well as the MinDA board’s endorsement of the proposed establishment of agro-economic zones last year, we have already made several coordination efforts to ensure involvement of the concerned agencies in this initiative,” he added.

MinDA recently convened the newly created Mindanao Development Corridor - Joint Planning and Programming / Technical Working Group (TWG) on agro-economic zones composed of the Regional Economic Zone Authority and Regional Planning and Development Office of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, as well as the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Mindanao regional offices.

The TWG has agreed on a set of criteria to be considered in terms of prioritizing economic zone proposals such as the poverty incidence in the proposed ecozone location, proximity to port of entry, and availability of workers.

Among the priority projects being pushed by MinDA is the creation of agro-economic zones.

With the establishment of these agro-ecozones, Dalumpines said “growth will be fairly spread to the peripheries and the fruits of prosperity will be equitably enjoyed by all as the key measures to a peaceful and progressive Mindanao.”

While PEZA supports the goal of AO 18 to spread growth and development in rural areas, Plaza earlier asked the Office of the President (OP) for a longer transition period of six months for ecozone developers with pending applications in Metro Manila to complete their requirements, instead of the 30 days provided by the order.

In her letter, she also asked the OP to exclude Manila, San Juan, Marikina, Las Piñas, Malabon, Caloocan, Pateros and Valenzuela from being covered by AO 18 as these cities either host just one IT (information technology) park or center or none at all.

The request was made amid tight supply of IT building spaces registered with PEZA in Metro Manila, with the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines estimating the industry demand for this year at 450,000-square meters (sqm) against the available 214,000 sqm.