The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is intensifying government efforts to boost the utilization of the country’s 400 Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
According to the DTI, this move will strengthen the economy, raise revenues, and generate more jobs for Filipinos.
“There’s an effort to really push for this and to really intensify and to really exhaust all possible ways to be able to use all of these areas para we can generate income and we can generate jobs for the Filipinos,” DTI Acting Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque said in a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday.
SEZs are selected areas that are highly developed or have the potential to be developed into agro-industrial, commercial, banking, investment, and financial hubs.
Roque said the DTI will be working closely with the Office of the Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs, particularly Secretary Frederick Go, regarding exports and foreign investments.
The official added that the DTI will bolster its drive to increase the competitiveness of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“So, talagang we’ll use all the BOI, the PEZA, and all other avenues where we can really create income and create jobs for the Filipino people,” Roque said.
Roque said she was also ordered by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to tap digitalization in supporting Philippine MSMEs.
According to Roque, the DTI will adopt the five-point strategy: digitalization, diversification, funding, franchising, and mentoring and learning.
MSMEs comprise 99.5 percent of the businesses in the country, Roque pointed out. PND
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