House panels OK Sarangani ecozone bill
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 07/06/2009 1:45 PM
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MANILA - The House committees on Economic Affairs and Trade and Industry have approved a bill establishing an economic zone in Sarangani to further spur development in the province.
In a statement, the two panels said they passed House Bill 5877, which creates the Maasim-Kiamba-Maitum Industrial Triangle Special Economic Zone (MAKIMA-IT).
Authored by Sarangani Rep. Erwin Chiongbian, the House panels said the bill aims to transform the MAKIMA-IT into a "self-sustaining, industrial, commercial, financial, investment, and tourism center."
Chiongbian added that the ecozone will create employment opportunities and attract foreign direct investments (FDI) to Sarangani.
"The proposed measure will realize the objective of providing jobs to my constituents, particularly those in the countryside, increase their productivity and individual incomes, and improve the level and quality of their living conditions," he said.
"This will serve as a venue to fully utilize the tremendous resources in the area such as the rich and arable agricultural land and diverse marine life," he added.
If enacted into law, Chiongbian said the MAKIMA-IT will provide economic progress not only in Sarangani, but also in the entire SOCSKARGEN (South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos) region.
"It will increase economic activity not only in MAKIMA municipalities, but also province-wide and within the region where raw materials for production and support services shall come from increased incomes and gross domestic product," he said.
The Philippines has not been lucky in striking investment deals with foreigners, getting only $44 million in FDI inflows for the first three months of 2009.
The latest figure is a huge 83.5-percent drop from $266 million recorded in the same period last year. In 2007, the country managed to attract $1.6 billion in FDIs for the three-month period.
The central bank is expecting FDIs to reach only $700 million by the end of the year as foreign businessmen hold back their plans to invest in the Philippines amid the global economic crisis.
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