P76.19-B projects approved in Yolanda-stricken areas in four years

The Philippine Board of In­vestments (BOI) is implement­ing a number of initiatives to further stabilize and fast track the socio-economic rehabili­tation and re-development in the areas devastated by super typhoon Yolanda back in 2013.

Trade Secretary and BOI Chairman Ramon Lopez said the BOI approved a total of 27 projects worth P76.19 Billion in areas highly affected by su­per typhoon Yolanda from No­vember 2013 to date. These investment projects generated around 3,674 in new jobs.

About 95 percent of the registered investment projects are energy and power proj­ects where 12 of which are re­newable energy projects, one bunker fired power plant and one energy source exploration project. The remaining five percent of the registered in­vestment activities meanwhile are shared by the sectors of manufacturing (three percent), agriculture, forestry and fishing (one percent), and accommo­dation and food service (one percent).

Trade Undersecretary for Industry Development and BOI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said the energy and power projects are set to sta­bilize the social and economic development in the areas dev­astated by the super typhoon.

Complementary to the mentioned investment activ­ities, the BOI Board, through Resolution No. 19-02 Se­ries of 2016 and adopted by Memorandum Circular No. 2016-003, has also approved the inclusion of 134 calami­ty-stricken cities and munici­palities including those devas­tated by Yolanda in the list of the Less Developed Areas(L­DAs)in the current Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).

“The move is intended to encourage more businesses to set up investment activities in calamity-stricken areas, and is aligned with the government’s strategy to move into the me­dium to long-term recovery and rehabilitation of areas highly affected by calamities,” said Undersecretary Rodolfo.

He added that registered projects located in the iden­tified LDAs are entitled to pioneer incentives and addi­tional deduction from taxable income equivalent to 100 per­cent of expenses incurred in the development of necessary and major infrastructure facil­ities, unless specified otherwise in the IPP’s specific guidelines.

BOI, in partnership with various government agencies and the local government of Leyte, a Yolanda-affected area, is also leading the implemen­tation of the proposed Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone. The project is part of the strat­egies under the Copper Indus­try Roadmap which aims to promote the integrated devel­opment and competitiveness of copper and other industries in the context of the ongoing rehabilitation efforts in the region and thus promote sus­tainable local employment.

The proposed industri­al zone also aims to promote industry clustering to reduce businesses’ logistics costs and ensure reliable supply of pow­er. Leyte has one of the biggest geothermal power plants in the Visayas region.

Conservation and pro­tection of the environment is a major focus of the project, hence the concept of an eco­logical industrial zone instead of a regular industrial zone. The proposed ecological in­dustrial zone itself provides services for waste management and recycling. It also takes into consideration climate change risks, thus the zone’s buildings and roads will be designed to be much resilient against di­sasters and calamities. A plan to have an underground elec­trification for the zone is also being considered.

It is expected to house po­tential locators in the field of copper wire rod casting facili­ty, downstream copper indus­try such as but not limited to copper wire producers, major industrial concerns that need power and port facilities such as steel, copper-using indus­tries, and other business activ­ities identified by industry that may support the economic re­habilitation of typhoon-affect­ed areas such as garments.

Leyte is home to the copper smelting and refining operations of the Philippine Associated Smelting and Re­fining Corporation (PASAR). The company is currently op­erating within the 425-hectare Leyte Industrial Development Estate in Isabel, Leyte. PASAR is the country’s only copper smelting and refining firm and is one of the biggest in Asia. The copper cathodes used in the manufacture of electronics that are produced by PASAR are among the top 10 export products of the country.

The BOI, in partnership with the Department of Trade & Industry Regional Office in Eastern Visayas also ca­pacitated the region’s various industry players, business­es, local government units and agencies, and concerned stakeholders in crafting their localized version of nation­al industry roadmaps and achieve further growth and competitiveness.

“The region’s stakehold­ers were challenged to for­mulate industry roadmaps to create more high productivity jobs which are vital to reduce poverty, speed up rehabili­tation efforts, and transform the regional economy,” Ro­dolfo said.