Billions in foreign investments posted in QC

The tax and fiscal incentives offered by the national government to foreign companies continue to attract investors in Quezon City where billions in foreign investments were posted during the administration of Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., a top business leader said yesterday.

Nathan Zulueta, president of the Quezon City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation (QCCCI), said records from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and the Board of Investments (BOI) show that US firms are the biggest foreign investors in Quezon City. This was followed by Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, Indian, Canadian and Australian firms.

UNISYS Public Sector Services Corp., an investor for the National Statistics Office’ (NSO) Civil Registry System, is the biggest single US-based investor in the city with a total investment of P3.2 billion.

To date, Zulueta said 48 investors in Quezon City are PEZA-registered and 28 are BOI-accredited. Together, they have billions of investments in information and communications technology (ICT) sector.

To boost ICT-related investments, the PEZA in year 2000 set up guidelines for the registration of ICT enterprises and the establishment of IT parks and buildings. Among the incentives granted to investors are income tax holidays, option to pay a special tax rate of five percent of gross income and tax and duty-free importation of machinery and raw materials.

Eastwood City Cyberpark in Libis, Quezon City, the first IT park in the country, has 43 IT locators. Companies engaged in software development, animation, web development, Internet and business solutions, hardware supplies and business process outsourcing companies are the specialized locators at the IT park.

However, BOI-accredited companies in QC are more diversified. Aside from ICT services, garments, automotive and machinery, low-cost mass housing, transport system, marine transport and manufacturing of knitted fabrics are also offered.

Zulueta said foreign investments in Quezon City, especially in ICT, is expected to double with the passage of City Ordinance 1545, which created the QC Trade Promotions and Development Center, a one-stop shop for trade investment accreditation and promotions.

Under the local government code principally authored by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, the LGUs are given the authority to tax the business sector within its jurisdiction as well as the power to grant local tax incentives and privileges to attract more investments.

Zulueta said the City Council and the QCCCI Foundation are now finalizing the QC Investment Incentives Code to support the newly created Trade Promotions and Development Center.

The Investments Incentives Code is a priority of the Belmonte administration to lure more local and foreign investments to the city. The goal is to make Quezon City even more competitive by retaining and widening its investors’ base.

"Quezon City has huge tracks of land for expansion and establishment of IT parks and BPO Centers. It has the biggest domestic market with a population of 2.5 million, excellent educational institutions turning out thousands of graduates yearly, cutting-edge technology and telecommunication infrastructures and soon, local fiscal incentives, with regulatory fees and more investor-friendly policies," Zulueta said.