Davao lacking in economic zones

DAVAO City is lacking in economic zones despites its vast areas for possible accreditation, an official from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) said.

Elmer San Pascual, Peza promotion and public relations group manager, revealed this during the recent 8th General Assembly of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCCII). He urged private sectors in the city to apply for accreditation for them to benefit from fiscal and non-fiscal benefits.

San Pascual said business sectors can benefit from fiscal incentives such as tax holidays for four years and non-fiscal incentives.

On top of this, business establishments can also benefit from another three years of Peza accreditation if they have expansions like acquisition of new machines and new employment.

The country has a total of 268 economic zones, of which 65 are manufacturing, 172 Information Tecnology (IT) Parks, 13 tourism economic zones, two medical tourism parks, and 16 agro-industrial parks.

But of the 268, only six are from Davao City, mostly IT Parks.

The Davao-based economic zones are Sutherland Global Services Philippines Inc., Synnex-Concentrix Corporation, Opinionology Philippines Inc., VXI Global Holdings B.V, Sumifru Corporation, and Legaspi Oil Company Inc.

San Pascual said businesses in economic zones will only pay five percent of the total corporate net income after four years, unlike regular businesses outside economic zones that are required to pay tax of about 30 percent of the net income.

For non-incentive, business owners within economic zones can employ foreign workers, according to San Pascual.

In his presentation at the Marco Polo Hotel Davao, San Pascual said economic zones are selected areas with highly developed or which have the potential to be developed into agro-industrial, industrial, tourist, recreational, commercial, banking, investment and financial center s whose metes and bounds are fixed or delimited by Presidential Proclamations.

He added that Peza-accredited zones are developed into decentralized, self reliant and self-sustaining industrial, baking/financial investment centers with minimum government intervention.

Peza-accredited zones are aimed at promoting investments to generate employment in the country, according to San Pascual.