PEZA eyes more Chinese investors, encourages small commodity manufacturers and SMEs to set up in ecozones

Eager to tap more neighboring countries to invest in the Philippines, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) briefed Chinese investors in the recent China-Philippines Business Forum at the Manila Peninsula last 07 March 2023.

PEZA, together with the Board of Investments (BOI) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), met with big-ticket Chinese investors from Yiwu China Commodities City. The forum was organized by the Zhejiang-Philippines Chamber of Commerce and China-Philippines United Enterprises, Inc.

According to PEZA OIC Director General Tereso O. Panga, “The economic cooperation with Yiwu will surely increase investment and trade for the country as we attract Yiwu’s small commodity manufacturers to set up their production facilities ideally in the ecozones.”

“Under the CREATE regime, PEZA may now register with incentives the SMEs and manufacturing companies that will locate in the ecozones to cater to the domestic market. These ecozone manufactured products can be readily made available to the domestic market, which are expected to be cheaper as compared to imported products and thus, benefiting the Filipino consumers,” Panga added.

Panga is confident that the entry of these small commodity producers will stimulate as well the tourism industry and economy in general with the integration of local SMEs into the ecozone value chain.

Founded in 1982, Yiwu China Commodities City (YCCC) is located in Yiwu City, Zhejiang province. With more than 75,000 stores and small commodity producers of 2.1 million items in 26 large-scale business categories, Yiwu market has trade relations with more than 210 countries and regions around the world. YCCC is touted as the world’s capital of small commodities, as recognized by the United Nations, the World Bank and Morgan Stanley.

Other forum participants included top officials from the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, Chinese government agencies such as Zhejiang Department of Commerce, Yiwu Municipal People’s government, Bank of China, Export-Import Nank of China, and representatives from various China-Philippines Chambers of Commerce.

There were also three (3) other presenters from the private sector that exhibited their real estate development projects in Manila East Bay and Ilocos Norte, as well as e-commerce business opportunities in the Philippines.

With President Bong Bong Marcos’s recent state visit to China to promote the Philippines as the smart investment destination, OIC Chief Panga said, “PEZA hopes to attract more Chinese investors to add to its current 160 Chinese RBEs that generated by far a total of PhP 25.446 billion investments, US$ 1.367 billion exports, and 15,724 direct jobs.”