The headquarters of the prosperous Mactan export-processing zone.

he figures speak for themselves when it comes to the success of the Philippines in bringing in much-needed foreign investment through the creation of specially designed business zones.
In the last four years, the best-known special zone at the former US naval base of Subic Bay has attracted more than 200 projects valued at US$ 1.5 billion.

They include such high-profile names as the US delivery firm Federal Express, which made Subic Bay its Asia-Pacific hub and Taiwan’s Acer computer company, which produces a large chunk of the zone’s exports. Subic Bay’s success has paved the way for similar zones across the country.
Secretary of Trade and Industry Cesar B. Bautista explains that the grouping of foreign firms in export zones has several advantages.

“It is impossible to make all the resources available nationwide, but we can concentrate them in ‘ecozones’, ” he says. The emphasis on these zones with their attractive incentives also provides an opportunity to pull economic development away from the Manila area. Islands such as Cebu, Mindanao and Palawan have succeeded in luring businesses from Manila to new regional industrial areas.
The policy has met with success. The best performing of the Philippines’ four Export Processing Zones is, in fact, the Mactan EPZ in Cebu, rather than one of the three in Luzon. Mactan has played a key role in Cebu’s revival, accounting for 65% of the island’s exports.

There is a similar story of high occupancy and growth in the new industrial areas on Mindanao, notably around Davao. Secretary Bautista says such regions no longer rely on government aid for development and can now look to the future with
greater optimism.