Friday, July 27, 2007 Chamber lauds filing of Cebu ecozone bill
THE Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) welcomed the filing in the Lower House of Congress of a bill seeking to establish the island of Cebu as an economic development zone.
“The labors of the CCCI ecozone study group, since its creation in April 2006, finally bore fruit with the filing of House Bill 1319 authored by all eight congressmen of Cebu City and Cebu Province,” the CCCI said in a statement.
The bill also seeks to create the Cebu Economic Development Zone Authority and appropriates funds for the endeavor.
With a technical assistance grant from the German Technical Cooperation Agency’s (GTZ) Decentralization Program and Small and Medium Enterprise Development for Sustainable Employment Project (Smedsep) through the endorsement of the Department of Trade and Industry Region 7, the CCCI ecozone study group fleshed out its concept of a private sector led, Cebu-wide special economic zone that would serve as a pilot project for sub-national business environment reforms.
The Cebu ecozone would be independent of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and Board of Investments.
Viable
The group saw a growing need to harness the resources of the entire island of Cebu, which possesses all the economic ingredients and qualifications of a viable ecozone. It worked toward non-traditional and innovative ways to create opportunities and give investors maximum value for their investments.
Study results on local and international best practices in ecozone development were put together and adopted where found suitable for Cebu.
The concept and objective of the bill was thus developed along the lines of establishing the Cebu Economic Development Zone (CEDZ) into a self-sustaining, industrial, commercial and investment center that will put in place a wide-reaching employment and investment generation mechanism.
The study group’s proposal, while acknowledging that both tax and non-tax based incentives are important factors in attracting investors, recognizes other equally crucial components in the overall ecozone development plan, such as: establishment of an effective and functioning public-private sector partnership; formulation of a master plan by the partnership.
The master plan will include comprehensive land use planning, bureaucratic streamlining as well as prioritization of infrastructure and investments.
Major points in the proposal were the result of a workshop conducted in early June where CCCI officers, trustees and study group members substantiated the concept with more concrete and specific propositions on various aspects of the project.
Resource persons from the private sector and government, headed by former finance secretary Jesus Estanislao, provided valuable information and insights during the conduct of this workshop.
The CCCI ecozone study group is chaired by Gerry Sta. Ana, who once served as governor of the Board of Investments.
The idea of a Cebu-wide, private sector led ecozone was hatched by CCCI president Francis Monera. (PR)
