The Philippine Economic Zone Authority said Monday it will accept applications from investors planning to open businesses in accredited economic zones in Metro Manila again.
PEZA officer-in-charge Tereso Panga said the agency would resume its function to accept, evaluate and approve application for investments in ecozones in Metro Manila after a three-year moratorium.
President Rodrigo Duterte issued Administrative Order No. 18 in June 2019 to encourage businesses to relocate to areas outside Metro Manila and spread economic activities in the countryside.
Panga said PEZA now expects a deluge of investments from the IT-business process management companies in Metro Manila after the three-year moratorium.
“We can now process applications from IT-BPM companies who were earlier eyeing to locate their operations in Metro Manila. This means investments in PEZA will increase again,” he said.
Panga said there is no need to amend AO 18, the measure responsible for the moratorium on IT-BPM’s expansion in Metro Manila.
“It has been superseded by CREATE [Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act] and its IRR [implementing rules and regulations]. Since it was the OP that promulgated the AO, it is better if they initiate the lifting [of the AO]” Panga said.
AO 18 stripped PEZA of the authority to accept, process or evaluate applications for the establishment of economic zones in Metro Manila until the moratorium is lifted to divert investments to the countryside.
Locator companies, however, are free to set-up operations in existing ecozones in Metro Manila.
PEZA reiterated its role in the creation of special economic zones in the countryside and the importance of addressing the efficiency factors which are necessary to complete the supply chain and lower the cost of doing business in the Philippines.
The development of economic zones falls under Tier 1 of the CREATE law which is granted four years of income tax holiday plus 10 years of enhanced deduction and special corporate income tax rate.
PEZA said the lifting of the moratorium on geographical restrictions would enable the creation of more jobs for the Filipino workforce.
PEZA manages over 415 economic zones nationwide with about 4,665 locator companies that directly employ 1.6 million workers.