With Philippine Economic Zone Authority’s (PEZA) objective to train and transform the Filipino workers into multi-knowledge, multi-skilled, world-class workers, the Authority underlines the crucial role of Knowledge, Innovation, Science, and Technology (KIST) Parks and Special Economic Zone Institute specializing on production and manufacturing capabilities in making the Philippines a digitalized and export-driven economy under Marcos Jr.’s administration.

PEZA Director General Charito B. Plaza highlighted, “Our KIST Parks is a type of an ecozone located within the campuses of State Colleges and Universities (SUCs). The goal of KIST parks is to leverage engineering and other much-needed courses required by various industries. It means we facilitate or ensure that the skills and jobs needed by industries are matched to those offered by these academes.”

Plaza said, “Nearly two years ago, President Duterte officially designated Batangas State University (BatStateU) as a PEZA-registered special economic zone through Proclamation No. 947, signed on 22 May 2020.”

“With this, PEZA welcomed BatStateU as the Philippines’ first-ever Knowledge, Innovation, Science and Technology (KIST) Park and we hope for their success as a benchmark for the whole country,” the PEZA Director General added.

Further, the De La Salle University, Don Mariano Marcos State University, and the University of Perpetual Help are also among the private universities proclaimed and will soon start their operations as KIST Parks. Meanwhile, the Catanduanes State University is now approved by the PEZA Board as a KIST Park last October 2021 and is currently waiting for its Presidential Proclamation.

She also stated that “PEZA has signed MOUs with various universities and institutions namely the Technological University of the Philippines Visayas (TUPV), the University of the Cordilleras (UC), Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) – Maragondon, STI-Rosario, and prominent universities in Baguio City namely the Benguet State University (BSU) and St. Louis University (SLU).” 

With these signed MOUs, these universities will provide progressive leadership in applied research, developmental studies in technical, industrial, and technological fields, and production using indigenous materials and effective technology transfer in the countryside.

PEZA Director General Plaza said, “KIST Parks will enable universities to partner with foreign universities to bringing their degree programs, skills training, and technology to their local KIST partners, hoping to attract foreign students and make the Philippines not just an investment destination but also as an education hub of Asia.” #

 

 

Cagayan State University (CSU) Food Innovation Center (FIC) with product prototype 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒔: 𝑻𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒔 for winning the 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 in the Industrial Technology Development Institute-Dost‘s project “Development of FIC Competency in Moving New Products from Concept to Market Launch” Year 2.

The 2022 Recognition of Innovation for the FIC Products was given to an FIC-developed food product that displayed the highest technical innovations in food science, technology and market attractiveness among businesses.

Moreover, the award was given to the winners for highlighting the learning of knowledge transfer provided by DOST-ITDI and other training providers including their experiences on product development, food safety regulations, product costing and market strategies, especially on the stage gate approach.

Held at the UP-Town Center Phase 2 Activity Center, the market introduction and recognition dubbed as InnovEats, Food Ideas & Creations, offered a brilliant opportunity for all the products of the FICs for adaptation and commercialization.

The recognition of innovation will also provide opportunities for innovators to produce a pre-commercial scale and to look for industry partners for Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy (CRADLE) Program funding and technology adopters for Licensing Agreement.

The said activity was graced by DOST Undersecretary for Regional Operations, Engr. Sancho A. Mabborang, DOST Undersecretary for Research and Development, Dr. Rowena Christina L. Guevara, Assistant Secretary for Human Resources Management, Management Services, and Special Concerns, Dr. Diana Ignacio, DOST-ITDI Executive Director, Dr. Annabelle V. Briones, Deputy Director and Program Manager of the FIC Academy, Dr. Zorayda Ang.

Also present were DOST Regional Directors, Dir. Virginia G. Bilgera, Dir. Nancy Bantog and Dr. Anthony Sales, Marketing Experts of UP Diliman, Prof. Dave D. Centeno, Prof. Rhey Daway, Provincial Directors, Ms. Nora Garcia, Engr. Sylvia Lacambra and Engr. Rocela Angela Gorospe and other DOST R02 and FIC personnel. #dostPH #ScienceForThePeople #DOSTRegion02

 

The biggest event in the Province of ZaNorte will happen on June 27 to July 3, 2022. Dubbed as “Kasa Kaza”, this festival is a prelude to the comeback of the bigger Hudyaka ZaNorte Festival in May 2023. It may be remembered that Hudyaka, adjudged as the second best provincial festival by the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines, was replaced by a mediocre Saulog Festival because of politics. For 9 years, the people of ZaNorte craved for a truly festive founding anniversary celebration. And now Hudyaka is back at the ZaNOrte Sports Complex!!!!!

The weeklong celebration will wake people up early in the morning by a roving truck with tribal drummers on board, roaming around the streets of Dapitan, Dipolog and major towns.

Crowd drawing and spectator sporting events are lined up. They are as follows:

June 27…..Kadaugan Run….a marathon competition, which is expected to be participated by 500 runners

June 27 – June 29….Beach Volleyball at Dapitan boulevard, fronting Gloria Fantasyland, where sexy players in two-piece attires, are staged to join.

June 27-July 3… Tennis tournament, especially catered for kids and professionals.

June 30….Kickboxing competition at the ZaNorte Sports Complex open ground. 10 matches will entertain the crowd with no admission fees.

July 1….Mountainbike Circuit Race at the Motocross Race Track inside the complex. To be followed by the biggest Motocross event of the year, which extends up to evening for a rare night race event. The said events are paired with Tattoo Competition at the same site. Plus: the sound of roaring bike engines will be backed by 10 local underground bands playing progressive rock and metal. FREE ADMISSION.

July 1 to 3……Golf tournament at the famous Dakak 18-hole international standard golf course

Every single day and night is a must-visit by families, barkadas and lovers at the complex… There are food stalls that open to serve lunch, dinner and iced cold beers. They will be manned by small entrepreneurs and the food are carenderia priced. Agro-fair games and raffle draws happen daily at the HUdyaka site.

There will be fireworks show on June 27 and July 2 at the complex. On June 30, another fireworks show will be fired in Dapitan City to cap the free concert at the Dapitan City Hall by local bands, Donita Nose and Jewel, Dominique Roque, Hero and Gloc 9. Free bus rides await those who wish to avail from Dipolog and some points of the province.

Nightly shows at the complex will start at 7pm:

June 27…..Reggae Night

June 28…..LGBT Beauty Pageant

June 29…..The Clash singing competition

June 30….Mega show in Dapitan with Gloc 9 and more

July 2…….Battle of the Bands.

 

Every night will be culminated by local bands who will be entertaining every revelers from 10pm hanggang sawa.

The weeklong celebration will be highlighted by a Subanen themed oath taking ceremony of Gov. Nene Jalosjos on July 2, who always maintained that her victory in the last election is not her victory…but the victory of all ZaNOrtehanons who are finally emancipated form the bondage of 9 years tyranny and monopoly. Subanen’s Buklog festival will follow.

The ceremony will be preceded by the Eat Bulaga Live Show form 1130 to 230pm at the outdoor Hudyaka stage. Bossing Vic, Joey and the entire cast will grace the show.

On top of all these, the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army, in cooperation with volunteer groups are ever ready with a comprehensive security plan… Hundreds of personnel will be deployed to ensure that the entire week will be remembered as a festive and seamless celebration.

 

Pasay City – Under the Duterte administration and despite the threats and challenges of the pandemic, the effects of the Russian-Ukraine war, the global inflation, and recession, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) continuously attracts new investments and expansions of existing investors and ecozone developer-locators nationwide.

PEZA being the top investment promotion agency (IPA) constantly enjoys the trust and confidence of its investors for its regulatory transparency, business assistance, reprieves, and support especially in surviving the threats of the pandemic and other crisis situations.

PEZA Director General Charito B. Plaza highlighted, “While domestic and other export enterprises not registered with PEZA were locked down, our registered business enterprises (RBEs) remain operational and though the pandemic affected their sales, PEZA’s registered industries maintained their operation and protected the jobs, livelihood, and the health of its more than 1.7 million direct workers which kept the Philippine economy afloat.”

While other IPAs were receiving a subsidy from the national government, Plaza shared, “As a self-reliant, self-sustaining, and resource-generating agency, PEZA does not get any subsidy, instead, we remit 50% of its yearly net profit as dividends to the national government. In fact, for 2021, we were able to remit PHP 898,471,582.39 million.”

“Also, from 2017 to 2021, under the Duterte administration, PEZA remitted PHP 5,611,028,918 billion, an 8.05 % higher than the 20 years from the past four presidents,” the PEZA Chief added.

 

Pride of recognitions

With PEZA’s brand of excellence, regulatory transparency, no red-tape policy, one-stop-shop, and non-stop shop services for investors, PEZA has received recognitions from local and international organizations for best practices among economic zones worldwide.

Recently this April, the Capital Finance International (CFI.co) announced that PEZA won CFI.co’s 2022 award for the Best Economic Zone Promotion in Southeast Asia. According to CFI.co, “PEZA acts as a catalyst for sustainable development in the Philippines, focusing on manufacturing, tourism, and industrial exporters as land and building developers. It provides a complete service to investors, assisting with business registration, tax incentives, and operational support.”

The IFC World Bank also recognized PEZA as “A shining example of successful regulatory reform improving the overall investment climate in the country and for continuously providing and enhancing the ease of doing business.”

Likewise, the US Department of State in 2020 mentioned that “the business environment is notably better within the special economic zones, particularly those available for export businesses operated by PEZA, known for its regulatory transparency, no red-tape policy, and one-stop-shop services for investors.”

Beyond the recognitions and milestones, PEZA Chief Plaza said, “PEZA leadership needs to be enterprising, creative, and resourceful in fulfilling its mandate, functions, and roles in triggering the growth of the MSMEs and every Filipino as suppliers, utilities, and facilities providers, truckers, forwarders, brokers, manufacturers, and everybody doing business in our economic zones.” #

 

 

 

Pasay City – Gearing towards a new administration that highlights economic recovery, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito B. Plaza said on Wednesday that the Agency is aggressively continuing to attract global investors to its environment-friendly economic zones.

PEZA Chief Plaza said, “PEZA continues to be the biggest investment promotion agency contributing 80% of export service income from its IT-BPO companies and 64% of the export income of commodities and goods from its industries into semi-conductors, electronics, manufacturing, assembly, processing, refinery, and others into tourism, medical tourism, and agro-industries.”

Likewise, the Authority contributes 15 to 18% of the country’s GDP and is among the highest in remitting dividends to the National Treasury.

According to PEZA Director General Plaza, “At the height of the pandemic that started in 2020, PEZA implemented various “balancing acts” and despite the challenges, PEZA’s 417 ecozones and 3,557 registered industries maintained their operations, while protecting their health and the jobs of more than 1.7 M direct workers which enabled us and the national government in keeping the economy afloat while the domestic enterprises were locked down.”

Trust and confidence of investors

“PEZA also continues to enjoy the trust and confidence of its investor-locators, ecozone developers, industry associations, and the local and foreign chambers,” said Plaza.

For one, the President of Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines (SEIPI) Dr. Danilo Lachica stated that “the most significant ‘feel good’ memory I have of our SEIPI partnership with PEZA and other government agencies was to be able to convince the corporate management of Texas Instruments to locate their USD $1 Billion advanced manufacturing factory in the Philippines, instead of in a bigger Asian country.

This was seconded by the Confederation of Wearable Exported of the Philippines (CONWEP) which shared, “PEZA moved heaven and earth to ensure that the export manufacturing was able to operate at the height [of the pandemic], specifically during the lockdown period in 2020. Kudos to Director General Charito Plaza and her team who were hands-on to the needs of all locators, be it a logistic concern – moving people and goods to and from the zones, or coordinating with the different LGUs to allow our factories to operate.”

Appreciation for PEZA’s support to WFH

Meanwhile, on the part of the IT-BPO sector, the I.T. & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) recognizes PEZA’s support for the implementation of a hybrid working arrangement.

In a Facebook post last 27 April 2022, IBPAP stated, “Now that the 90% WFH has ended, applying a long-standing policy that dates back to pre-pandemic times, PEZA has enabled our sector to apply for 30% WFH by requesting Letters of Authority (LOA). With a LOA, IT-BPM players may continue to allow part of their workforce to WFH, particularly those who have greater difficulty returning to office.”

“It’s also of significant help that they are responsive in addressing the many issues RBEs are encountering while setting themselves up for 30% WFH until 12 September 2022,” IBPAP added.

PEZA Director General Plaza reiterated, “This hybrid work setup is until 12 September only, the declared end of the state of (the COVID-19) calamity by President Rodrigo Duterte. As such, a hybrid scheme must be institutionalized by the incoming Marcos administration as we need to harmonize our laws and policies on this matter.”

She also said, “PEZA’s work from home (WFH) scheme for its registered IT-BPOs and RBEs has been conceptualized even before the passage of Republic Act No. 11165 or the Telecommuting Act on 20 December 2018.”

Under the leadership of Charito B. Plaza, she is revolutionizing PEZA’s mission, functions, and roles in promoting investments, and creating jobs and livelihood. This also includes the transfer of technology, developing idle lands into special economic zones (SEZs), digitalizing the economy, building self-reliance, self-sustaining, resource-generating economy, and maximizing the production and manufacturing capability of the Filipinos to become a multi-knowledged, multi-skilled. and world-class workers. #

 

 

 

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region 02 held a benchmarking activity to various S&T funded projects under the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP), Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (CEST), and Grant-in-Aid (GIA) in Regions 1, 3, 4A and NCR.

 

Supervised by the host DOST Regional Offices, DOST R02 staff conducted interviews and onsite inspection to the projects to further improve the implementation of the S&T programs and projects in Cagayan Valley Region.

One of the desired outcomes of the benchmarking is to identify areas, systems, or processes for improvement and to help understand how the MSMEs in different Regions implement the program.

 

Moreover, this will also help the DOST Region 02 personnel in strategizing procedures, plans and activities to address the S&T needs of the clients, their capabilities and contribution to the expansion of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in Cagayan Valley.

 

The input from the proponents of the successful projects were also valuable and will serve as a baseline for the implementation of DOST programs and projects.

The activity was led by the Assistant Regional Director for Finance and Administrative Support Services (ARD FASS), Ms. Mary Ann P. Maglasin, joined by the Provincial Directors, Engr. Sylvia Lacambra, Ms. Nora Garcia, Mr. Lucio G. Calimag, Engr. Jonathan Nuestro and Engr. Rocela Angelica Gorospe and other DOST R02 personnel from the Regional Office and PSTCs. #dostPH #ScienceForThePeople #DOSTRegion02