A BILL that will establish a Bangsamoro ecozone agency, similar to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, has been filed at the autonomous region’s parliament.
Bill No. 129 or the Bangsamoro Economic Zone Act of 2021, filed by Member of Parliament Amir S. Mawallil, will create the Bangsamoro Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) that will be tasked to help promote investment in the region.
“The proposed bill specifies that the economic zones that will be established shall be developed into decentralized, self-reliant, and sustainable agro-industrial and commercial investment centers, which shall be operated and treated as a separate customs territory,” Mr. Mawallil said in a statement sent to BusinessWorld.
“It will also facilitate the marketing and export of goods and services produced by several industries,” he added, citing as examples the opportunities in the growing Halal and Islamic finance sectors.
Assistant Secretary Romeo M. Montenegro, deputy executive director of the Mindanao Development Authority, said four of the eight priority agro-economic zones being pushed for development are in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
These are in Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Maguindanao, and Picong in Lanao del Sur, with specific commodities assigned to each area. Three others are within the Zamboanga Peninsula Region and one in Agusan del Sur in the Caraga Region.
Existing agro-industrial zones in Mindanao include the Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental and the Bukidnon Agro-Resources Export Zone, both in Northern Mindanao; one in Roxas, Zamboanga del Sur; the Anflo Industrial Estate in Panabo City in Davao Region; and at least five in the Sarangani-South Cotabato-General Santos City area.
Mr. Montenegro, speaking at a forum on Friday hosted by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said ecozones address issues such as ease of doing business for private investors as well as the “fragmentation of commodities.”
He also emphasized that the development of these agro-ecozones must be complemented “by improving logistics systems and services connecting rural areas with industrial centers, and bringing the products up in the value chain to distribution and marketing in huge domestic and EAGA (East ASEAN Growth Area) Halal markets.”
Bangsamoro Deputy Chief Minister Benjamin T. Loong, speaking in the same forum, said discussions are ongoing with government and private sector leaders in the EAGA parts of Indonesia and Malaysia for transport connectivity, including fast craft and roll on-roll off services to and from Tawi-Tawi.
“Our approach is… we want to make the province of Tawi-Tawi a model (for EAGA links). So actually (shipping deals are) just breaking the ice; this will also include (cooperation) on power,” Mr. Loon said.
The Bangsamoro Organic Law, which set up the BARMM, gives the regional government the authority to “establish economic zones, industrial estates, and free ports in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, including the establishment of a Bangsamoro Economic Zone Authority.”
Mr. Mawallil said the passage of the BEZA Act “will capitalize on the rich natural resources that BARMM has, in addition to several comparative advantages that can be utilized to improve the current state of the region, its government, and its people.” — Marifi S. Jara