The Philippine Economic Zone Authority and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources agreed to develop two new economic zones to align similar industries and encourage the specialization of manufacturing zones.
“We had a meeting with DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu and soon we will have a MOA signing for the two types of ecozones we are promoting. First is the agro-processing ecozone and the other is the mineral processing ecozone,” said Peza director-general Charito Plaza.
The specialized economic zones will be strategic to reviving the wood sector and create value-adding to mineral products in the case of mineral processing economic zone.
Peza said the wood sector lacked the support needed to create a bustling industry capable of supplying even the demand for imports especially on furnitures.
Plaza said prefabricating factories in the Philippines resorted to importation to fill up the required inventory for manufacturing. “They are importing at least 10,000 cubic meter of wood per year. We cannot provide the volume, it is still illegal to cut trees unless within a legitimate plantation,” she said.