Committed investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) jumped 332.05 percent in the first seven months of the year to P97.163 billion from only P22.489 billion investments approved in the same period in 2022 on more Malacanang proclamations of special economic zones. 

In a statement issued Monday, Aug. 7, PEZA said that the Jan.-July investment approval was largely fueled by the strong inflow in the month of July where the board approved on July 31 a total of P16.578 billion investments coming from 15 new and expansion projects, which are expected to generate $419.5 million exports and create 2,983 jobs.  
On 25 July 2023, Panga reported that the Office of the President released Proclamation Nos. 299, 300, and 303 which approves the creation of three economic zones in Naga City, Bacolod City, and Dumaguete City.  
 

Proclamation No. 299 designated several parcels of land in Barangay Carolina, Naga City to be known as Naga City Industrial Park while Proclamation Nos. 300 and 303 designated buildings as IT Centers in Barangay Mandalangan, Bacolod City to be known as Lopue’s Mandalangan IT Center and in Barangay Piapi, Dumaguete City to be known as Marina Town Dumaguete.  
 

The Marcos Administration also approved last April two new economic zones in Batangas Province and Bacolod City. These ecozones are expected to bring in about P1.641 billion investments.  
 

Panga expressed confidence on the increase of economic zones approval during the term of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. 
 

“We remain committed in our overarching goal of spurring countryside development through the creation of more ecozones seen to facilitate growth and development of our regions and attract new and strategic investments in the country,” said Panga.  
 

“We remain on track with our goal of establishing at least thirty ecozones every year that create centers of economic progress outside the National Capital Region (NCR) to spur countryside development.”  
 

To date, there are a total of six PEZA ecozones pending for proclamation by the President. These ecozones will be developed in Parañaque City (IT Center), Pasig City (IT Center), Tanza, Cavite (Manufacturing), Ilocos Sur (Manufacturing), and Sarangani Province (Agro-industrial).  
 

Meanwhile, In a bid to strengthen the science, technology, and innovation (STI) initiatives of the country, PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. signed on Thursday, Aug. 3, a Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) on the establishment of Knowledge, Innovation, Science and Technology (KIST) Ecozones.  
 

The JMC is the second phase of the landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by PEZA and DOST last 24 Jan. 2023. The JMC aims to accelerate and increase the establishment of KIST economic zones, which shall be located inside higher education institutions (HEIs) across the country.  
 

Among the objectives of the KIST Ecozones are to transform idle lands owned by HEIs into more productive uses catering to STI purposes.  
 

Further, it intends to set the criteria and procedures in evaluating applications for registration of KIST Ecozones and administration of incentives to KIST developers/operators and locators under Republic Act No. 7916, as amended.  
 

One of the goals of the KIST Ecozones is to “open opportunities to business and start-up and spin-off companies to operate in a special economic zone to enjoy fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, provided for under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises [CREATE] law and the Innovative Startup Act.”  
 

With the JMC, both PEZA and DOST expressed confidence on the establishment of more KIST parks.
 

“This is just the beginning of the groundwork that the government is laying and we in PEZA are honored to be part of its foundation. KIST Parks will play a significant role in increasing R&D infrastructure, fostering collaboration in R&D with foreign partners, facilitating technology transfer, and upskilling our workforce towards innovation. Together with the DOST, we can do a lot to boost our knowledge and technology inputs-outputs towards enhancing our global innovation index ranking,” said Panga.   
 

For his part, Solidum explained that “The KIST Park is envisioned to be a center for technology transfer and commercialization, and a platform to integrate various science, technology, and innovation (STI) initiatives in the regions. [It] will be integral to the creation and growth of startups, spinoffs and S&T-based firms, complementing the efforts on technology business incubation and acceleration. And this is where science and technology, and business will come together.”  
 

Panga noted that the PEZA and DOST’s landmark MOU has paved the way for the establishment of the first-ever KIST Park through the Batangas State University. The PEZA Board has likewise approved three more KIST projects—the University of Perpetual Help’s iAltaHub to be located in Cavite, the De La Salle University Innovation Hub and the Lyceum of the Philippines-Laguna KIST Park to be established in Laguna. 
 

“We are looking forward to more KIST parks to be established which will creating an enabling environment for research and development (R&D) and innovation in the hope of locating more patents and prototypes that will lead to commercialization of ecozone high-tech projects,” he said.  

“We are positive that more SUCs and HEIs will signify interest in the program and be our partner in our endeavors to utilize STI, especially in wealth creation, by providing and nurturing environment for business and innovations and wrapping up efforts on technology transfer and commercialization of research and development results, creating higher value products and services,” said Solidum.  
 

Further, PEZA and DOST signified strengthened collaborations towards the attainment of a common goal of promoting promote synergy among academia, industry, and the government, attracting and facilitating much-needed investments, and making the quality of life better for every Filipino through science, technology and innovation.  
 

“In all these, we intend to make the ecozone program more relevant and vibrant as we push for the creation of new ecozone frontiers to accelerate countryside development and contribute to the attainment of the Marcos administration’s 8-point agenda and bid for the country to graduate to upper middle-income economy status by 2025,” said the PEZA Chief.