Legazpi eyed as Special Economic Zone

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LEGAZPI CITY – Mayor Noel Rosal of this city is elated by the prospects of this prime Bicol city being the country’s next Domestic Special Economic Zone (DSEZ) as identified by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP).

“The city government under my stewardship welcomes this development very much as being a DSEZ would facilitate the coming in of more investments in the manufacturing field, tapping the local labor market,” Rosal said.

His administration, Rosal said, is willing to provide long-term policy assurance to investors in this proposed facility as jobs in manufacturing are far higher in terms of productivity and would translate to higher wages for workers and contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth, he said.

Featuring integrated mixed land-use activities, a DSEZ combines airport, seaport, tourism, utilities, industrial park and commerce under a single authority. Employing either public-private partnerships (PPP) or private developer approaches, the zone would be set within a revamped regulatory framework offering investors supply chain competitiveness and superior location advantages, Rosal explained.

On job generation as a result of the DSEZs, rural laborers are not transferred to Metro Manila as it decentralizes manufacturing, he said, adding that it would also be favorable to workers in agricultural and fisheries sectors who lost their source of livelihood in the Visayan areas recently ravaged by typhoon "Yolanda."

“These workers economically displaced by the super typhoon could find better opportunities in the manufacturing sector once this economic zone is established here, given the proximity of the city to the Visayan regions,” Rosal said. He added, this is one way of generating jobs that would bring the workers to an industry with higher levels of productivity in the wake of the disaster.

Earlier, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda announced that “Albay province will soon be host to low-cost, labor-intensive manufacturing enterprises with its potential capacity to be developed into a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) where labor costs are substantially lower compared to Central Luzon and Metro Cebu.” Salceda based his announcement on recent statement issued by the ECCP that noted the province’s high potential, considering its favorable climate in such factors as investors-friendliness being able to provide low-cost leases, more attractive labor policies and considerate to PPP contracts to attract real estate firms to develop businesses on reduced costs.

In a letter to Salceda received over the week, ECCP vice president for external affairs Henry J. Schumacher told the governor that “we feel that Albay could be such a location and we would like to discuss our concept in more detail with you during your next visit to Manila.”

Identified as location of the DSEZ are areas here such as Barangays Banquerohan and Homapon that are both located at the southern outskirt of the city and far from the threats of disaster emanating from Mt. Mayon eruptions, flash flood and avalanches of lahar and other volcanic materials stored from the slopes of the active volcano.

Way back in the late 1990s, Barangay Banquerohan had already been proclaimed by the Philippine Economic Zones Authority Board as among Bicol region’s SEZ.

The city government has been investing in the development of the site composed of over 33 hectares where preferred industries such as processing of food and beverage, manufacturing of light metal, electronic appliances, furniture and fixtures, garments, textiles and wearables, ceramic and non-metallic products, among others, will be located.

In the latest prospect, these areas -- including Embarcadero de Legazpi, a posh tourism-oriented commercial hub sitting in a vast seafront property at the heart of the city and the Legazpi Domestic Airport -- have been initially declared as DSEZ, according to Salceda.

Areas along the Maharlika Highway in Polangui, a first-class Albay municipality located at the province’s boundary with Camarines Sur, are also included in the proposed DSEZ, the governor said.

In naming Albay as host to the first DSEZ in Bicol, the ECCP, according to Salceda, also recognizes that the province has also a large pool of new workers which can be trained through a proposed Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Industrial Scholarship Program wherein high school graduates aged 18 years old and above are hired for apprenticeships for 18-24 months.

Priority is given these days to locating these zones in less-developed regions of the country, where there are ample numbers of young workers available to be trained, especially new high schools graduates under TESDA’s apprenticeship program. With that proposal, the governor said he is confident of an “Albay BOOM” resulting from the province’s conversion into a new ecozone in Southern Luzon.

Salceda said he is bent on making it a reality with the creation first in Albay of a Domestic/Export Enterprise Zone (D/EEZ) which is an initial requirement for developing ecozones. The focus is on such industries such as the food, garments, footwear, and furniture industries where Albay has potentially recorded an impressive growth. - DANNY O. CALLEJA