MANILA — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has designated a site in Victoria, Tarlac as a special economic zone (SEZ), the Presidential Communications Office said over the weekend.
PCO said under Proclamation No. 623, the SEZ to be known as the Victoria Industrial Park will comprise a 297,719-square meter property in Barangay Baculong.
According to the PCO, the SEZs are “selected areas with highly developed or which have the potential to be developed into agro-industrial, industrial, tourist/recreational, commercial, banking, investment and financial centers.”
“They may contain any or all of the following: Industrial Estates, Export Processing Zones, Free Trade Zones, and Tourist/Recreational Centers,” the PCO added.
Areas may be established as ecozones in a proclamation to be issued by the president and subject to the evaluation and recommendation of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) based on a detailed feasibility and engineering study, it explained.
“PEZA extends assistance, registers, grants incentives to investors. It also facilitates the business operations of investors in export-oriented manufacturing and service facilities inside selected areas throughout the country that were proclaimed by the president as PEZA Special Economic Zones,” PCO furthered.
Citing PEZA records, the PCO said the country has 419 economic zones as of April 2023, broken down as follows: 78 manufacturing economic zones, 297 information technology parks/centers, 17 tourism export enterprises, 24 agro-industrial economic zones, and three are medical tourism parks/center.
