The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said it plans to launch a digital marketplace to facilitate direct business-to-business (B2B) transactions between PEZA enterprises and buyers from outside the country.
PEZA director-general Tereso Panga said while the agency is mapping out sectors that maybe covered by the e-marketplace, it started onboarding companies into the platform.
“What we really want is for local providers to be integrated to the economic zone value chain. We would like to learn how we can enhance local sourcing more than international sourcing,” he said.
The digital marketplace (DMP) will serve as the hub where sourcing of materials between buyers and suppliers are transacted and completed. The DMP is part of PEZA’s efforts to streamline systems and applications.
Among the activities identified for improved business processing at PEZA are process reengineering and integrated information management systems and data analytics that will ensure full compliance of registered business enterprises (RBES) and enhance decision-making of digitalization of PEZA documents.
PEZA said it would also automize financial transactions through an online integrated financial management system (IFMS) and improve the online VISA system.
The agency is trying to replace existing systems to cover the design and development of a web-based system that will manage and monitor the issuance of engineering permits.
Efforts to improve systems and processes will contribute to the agency’s goal of generating up to P250 billion investments in 2024 it said.
PEZA said that in 2023, it surpassed its 10-percent growth target with investment approvals reaching P175 billion, up by 24 percent from P140 billion in 2022.