Friday, October 20, 2006 Schools offering IT courses should be given incentives
Educational institutions that provide information technology (IT) courses should be given incentives similar to those that special economic zones (ecozone) enjoy, an official of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) said.
“Players in the value chain which provides the human resources necessary for the IT industry are found outside of the ecozone,” CCCI president Francis Monera said.
He said these educational institutions are the ones producing the talents required by the IT industry.
“The human resource is one of the most essential pillars of the Silicon Valley,” Monera said.
He is optimistic Cebu’s pool of graduates will remain competitive against other countries like China and India.
Same
“The acceptance rate and attrition rate is more or less the same only that these countries have an edge since they have a bigger population,” Monera said.
Monera also said firms located in special economic zones, such as Mactan Economic Zone and the Cebu Industrial Park in Balamban, will enjoy “improved incentives” following the chamber’s proposal to proclaim the entire Cebu Province as an economic zone.
“The incentives are not necessarily the Philippine Export Zone Authority (Peza) model,” Monera told Sun.Star Cebu.
Earlier, he said the Cebu ecozone will reduce the cost of doing business, thus spur more investments into the province.
“It will improve significantly the business climate in Cebu by building up capabilities and improve business environment,” Monera said.
Firms located in economic zones enjoy income tax holidays. They also have the option to pay a special five percent tax on gross income instead of national and local taxes, and are required to pay real estate taxes.
The chamber is currently working on the Cebu ecozone feasibility study slated for completion in November. (MMM)
