Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito “Ching” Plaza vowed Tuesday to work toward wooing more investors for the purpose of setting up more pharmaceutical economic zones.

This, after theFirst Bulacan Business Park (FBBP) in Malolos, Bulacan was granted “special economic zone" status under Proclamation No. 1070 by President Duterte.

“We thank President Duterte for the proclamation of the First Bulacan Business Park, which is the first pharmaceutical ecozone registered under PEZA,” said Plaza.

She noted the importance of the particular ecozone as an effective strategy in bouncing back from the persisting crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"PEZA will continue to do its best to attract investors that will create more pharmaceutical economic zones in the Philippines, making the country self-reliant, self-sustaining, and resource-generating in terms of producing our own medicines, medical equipment and supplies," she said.

In December 2020, Senator Francis Tolentino appealed to the government to speed up the establishment of pharmaceutical manufacturing zones to ensure the public’s access to cheaper medicines and help boost the country’s economic growth.

Tolentino proposed Senate Resolution No. 580 urging PEZA and the Board of Investments (BOI) to fast-track its creation of pharmaceutical zones.  

The COVID-19 outbreak has reaffirmed the need for investment in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology, PEZA said. As such, the agency, in addition to the existing medical tourism guidelines, is looking to explore adding to its new types of ecozones to host leading Biotechnology Companies and Philippine startups (under Innovative Startup Act), including pharmaceuticals.

"This will be in the mold of Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster (KBIC), which offers a platform for networking businesses and institutes in their pursuit of innovative collaboration and groundbreaking discoveries in a wide spectrum of medical, pharmaceutical, and biological fields, including medical device and regenerative medical fields," PEZA said.

"In support of the business continuity objective of the global pharma companies which are mostly located in Metro Manila, FBBP provides a redundant site outside NCR and in the countryside. FBBP is also in close proximity to the proposed Bulacan International Airport," it further noted.