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Planned mega economic zone in Pangasinan welcomed

By Leonardo Micua

November 11, 2017, 4:23 pm

DAGUPAN CITY -- Mayor Belen Fernandez has welcomed the grand plan of President Rodrigo Duterte and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to build a mega economic zone in Pangasinan, the nucleus of which will be in Dagupan City.

In an interview with reporters on Saturday, Fernandez quoted PEZA Director General Charito Plaza, who was in Dagupan on November 8, as saying that the planned mega economic zone of about 1,000 hectares will be located in Dagupan City and its 10 surrounding municipalities.

"I think President Duterte is giving much importance to countryside development. That is why he would like to bring a mega economic zone to Pangasinan," Fernandez said.

Plaza presided over the First Luzon Economic Zone Summit for Pangasinan and La Union at the CSI Stadia here hosted by the Dagupan City government.

The PEZA director general said the mega economic zone for Pangasinan is programmed to be built within 30 years, to be set up by a consortium of investors to come from China, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States.

Projected to initially cost USD390 million, the mega economic zone will also require the establishment of an international airport, an international seaport and railways.

Plaza said former House of Representatives Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., now a special envoy of President Duterte, had a hand in consolidating foreign investors to come to the Philippines and build the mega economic zone in Pangasinan.

She said De Venecia has invited his friend, the Chief Executive Officer of Xian Long Company in China, which owns big hotels and three shopping malls and is also into the petrochemical industry that currently supplies 20 percent of China’s requirements, to come and head the consortium.

Fernandez lauded Plaza’s statement that Dagupan was chosen to be the nucleus of the planned mega economic zone because of its central location and its being the center of education, trade and commerce in Northern Luzon and Pangasinan.

Apart from this, Plaza hailed the persistence of the Dagupan mayor to have her city become part of the mega economic zone for Pangasinan in a bid to provide more employment to her constituents and boost the city’s economy.

Of the municipalities identified as location of the mega economic zone, Dagupan appears to be the most ready, having just updated its Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) enacted way back in 1978.

On top of this, Dagupan was the first local government unit to offer a space at CSI Stadia to become PEZA's temporary Regional Business Center through the generosity of the local-based Urban Satellite Vision Inc.

Plaza said the American Sitel Philippines has expressed its intention to branch out to Dagupan next year because in the envisioned mega economic zone, Dagupan City will be the location of the Information Technology Park.

USATV was already endorsed by the city council of Dagupan to be accredited by PEZA, in connection with its plan to build the first IT Park on its own property in Barangay Lucao, Dagupan City.

Fernandez said the development will certainly stimulate the growth of Dagupan, given the fact that the city was recognized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as the most competitive city in the region based on its Cities/ Municipalities Competitive Index for 2017.

The mega economic zone in Pangasinan will also specialize in manufacturing, medical tourism, aqua marine and other agricultural and industrial projects, she said. (PNA)

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