Foreign and local investors in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) are expected to drastically increase following the all-out support bestowed by city officials on the proposed expansion plan within the declared PEZA property.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong assured PEZA Director-General Charito B. Plaza that the city fully supports the plan of the PEZA to re-design the economic zone and expand its areas of operation to be able to entice more investors to establish their businesses in the city.
He stated that the local government will closely coordinate with the local PEZA officials in the crafting of strategies to pave the way for the smooth implementation of the PEZA expansion plan in the four economic zones in the country, including the Loakan-based economic zone.
Plaza, together with other ranking PEZA officials, met with Mayor Magalong to seek his assistance in the peaceful and orderly relocation of informal settlers that encroached on a huge portion of the PEZA property.
She reported that of the 62 hectares declared PEZA property in Loakan, 32 hectares are currently being used by the economic zone and its locators while nearly 30 hectares had been encroached by informal settlers which is hindering the proposed expansion plans that will bring more foreign and local investors to the zone.
The PEZA official explained to the local chief executive that the government envisions the economic zones to be townships that will include condominium-type housing for the locators and their workers instead of the traditional, industries, factories and companies around the zone.
According to her, the conversion of economic zones into townships will also convince locators to operate round the clock that will guarantee increased economic activities beneficial in helping revive the country’s economy that had been heavily impacted by the implementation of the community quarantine guidelines to prevent the spread of the dreaded Corona Virus Disease (COVID) 2019.
Director-General Plaza claimed that even during the Luzonwide lockdown, 85 to 90 percent of the locators in the 408 economic zones in the country remained operational that is why it was the export-oriented businesses that had kept the country’s economy fighting for survival as domestic enterprises were really down at that time.
Further, she added that of the more than 1.6 million economic zone workers, approximately 200,000 employees had been affected by the closure of 12 percent of the 4,986 locators based in the different parts of the country.
In terms of the number of workers that had been infected with the deadly virus, she revealed that only 1,496 workers contracted the virus with 13 deaths but the said deaths had co-morbidities.
Plaza underscored that the increase in the locators in the different economic zones, including Baguio City, will definitely contribute in providing residents in their areas of operation added employment opportunities for displaced workers and spur the economy of the said places as the country is in need of more economic drivers that will stimulate the economic activities and sources of livelihood of the people. By Dexter A. See