AROUND 50,000 jobs will be available soon following the plan to set up a 305-hectare integrated steel manufacturing plant by the Chinese company Panhua Group Company, Limited in Misamis Oriental.

The steel manufacturing plant will be constructed at the Phividec Industrial Estate of the Misamis Oriental-Special Economic Zone (Piemo-SEZ).

The US$3.5-billion investment will consist of a port, an integrated steel mill with a capacity of 10 million tons, an industrial park, and other downstream industries.

According to Governor Yevgeny Emano, the establishment of the steel manufacturing plant will help in alleviating poverty as those unemployed in the province and even in Cagayan de Oro City will be able to get jobs, as the project is expected to generate 50,000 jobs for mason, blacksmith, laborer and others.

Last November 20, Panhua Chairman Xinghua Li, Phividec Industrial Authority CEO and Administrator lawyer Franklin Quijano, and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) Deputy Director General Tereso Panga signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU), led by Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez.

After the MOU signing, Panhua will have to obtain a Peza registration and an Environmental Compliance Certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and to sign a memorandum of agreement to begin the construction of the project.

Panhua Chairman Xinghua Li said that they were looking forward to the inception of the project, which is expected to be completed in six to seven years.

He was optimistic about building more industrial parks to increase employment and attract more businesses to the provinces of the Philippines.