The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) continues to advocate for the lifting of the moratorium on the establishment of ecozones in Metro Manila under Administrative Order No. 18 (AO 18) in 2019.
“New entrant investors have always preferred the National Capital Region (NCR) as the location for their businesses. Unfortunately, with the moratorium in place, we might be limiting the scope of new partnerships and slowing down our development,” said Tereso Panga, PEZA director-general.
Panga said the lifting of the moratorium would help provide ready locations for new and expanding locations for information technology business process management (IT-BPM) companies.
PEZA cited a report of Leechiu Property Consultants that projected the need for “one million seats in office spaces, effectively doubling the current capacity in Metro Manila.”
PEZA warned that a shortage in IT centers and office spaces is on the horizon if the moratorium stays in place.
The Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act which took effect in 2021 appears to supersede the earlier AO 18 moratorium, as sections in its Implementing Rules and Regulations allows ecozone and freeport zone development, such as the establishment of IT parks, in the NCR.
“Should the CREATE law be properly implemented in NCR, it will support as well the call of other local government units (LGU) in Metro Manila that were deprived by the said moratorium to host IT parks and locator companies within their jurisdiction,” Panga said.