PEZA seeks development of 137 new ecozones

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has identified 137 new sites for economic zone (ecozone) development covering 70,475 hectares of public lands around the country.

PEZA said these idle public lands are owned and managed by various government agencies such as the Privatization and Management Office, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Philippine Mining Development Corp. (PMDC), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

PEZA Director-General Charito B. Plaza said they have already signed the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with these agencies for the redevelopment of their properties into ecozones under the Private-Public Partnership or joint venture schemes.

“These agencies are now complying with other documents for the presidential proclamation of these sites into special ecozones,” Plaza said.

Data showed that majority of these government-owned lands can be converted and suited for specific ecozone.

A majority of 39,940 hectares have been identified for manufacturing ecozone. This is followed by tourism ecozone with 19,815 hectares, and agro-industrial zone with 10,659 hectares. At least 42 hectares could be converted into IT Parks, and 4.5 hectares as IT centers. The remaining 5 hectares are deemed suitable for retirement ecozone.

At present, there are 380 ecozones in the country hosting a total of 4,147 export-oriented enterprises and contributing an overall R3.3 trillion to the entire Philippine economy.

Plaza has moved for the redevelopment and utilization of public lands either for export or domestic-oriented enterprises to maximize their productivity and create new jobs in the country. She has pushed for the creation of one Green Economic Zones and Indistrial Cities in every province and city.

In particular, Plaza has moved for the creation of domestic-oriented ecozones, particularly on major crops such as rice and other high-value crops to ensure the food security of the country.

Already, PSALM has started the suitability study of its real estate assets for conversion into economic sites, with nine sites situated in various locations in Metro Manila, Pampanga, and Bataan already covered for further assessment.

PSALM and PEZA entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in December 2017 to consummate the newly