Place ecozones near ports — exec
During her presentation ‘Portropolis’ at the 2022 Logistics Forum hosted by the Anti-Red Tape Authority, Magsaysay-Ho said ports are already highly developed through heavy investments.
Daily TribuneDuring her presentation ‘Portropolis’ at the 2022 Logistics Forum hosted by the Anti-Red Tape Authority, Magsaysay-Ho said ports are already highly developed through heavy investments.
Philippine economic zones were created with little regard to their proximity or remoteness from shipping ports. Thus, a chief executive of a local shipping firm is asking government backing to build industry clusters with ports in mind.
Doris Magsaysay-Ho, a shipping executive at the Magsaysay Group of Companies, said the Department of Trade and Industry may adjust its plans to develop industry clusters that can better deliver economies of scale.
During her presentation "Portropolis" at the 2022 Logistics Forum hosted by the Anti-Red Tape Authority, Magsaysay-Ho said ports are already highly developed through heavy investments from companies like International Container Services Inc., but it can further reach their full potential if the joint effort of the private sector and the DTI will help attract an ecosystem of suppliers serving more than one customer.
Cluster concept viable
According to her, the Trade and Industry department can also create opportunities to invest in production as part of the supply and value chain and achieve economies of scale that will lead to lower shipping and logistics costs. Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual, according to Magsaysay-Ho, "has talked about clusters."
"We're really excited about his idea to create clusters because the most important part about trade, the most important impact on cost of transport is scale," she said.
Magsaysay-Ho added that while international ports operated by ICTSI and Asian Terminals Inc. in Batangas and Subic are already contributing "valuable revenue to the government," a "whole-of-government" approach was necessary to fulfill the full potential of Philippine ports. Port operations are especially crucial for an archipelagic country like the Philippines.
"It is important for the government to acknowledge that shipping and logistics are crucial infrastructure needed for the country's development and are not impediments," she noted.
The DTI already signified its plan to build industry clusters that could address the smallness of Philippine trade volume, which keeps mother ships away from Philippine ports.
Magsaysay-Ho, thus, suggested that ports in Batangas, Subic, Cagayan de Oro can serve as pilot areas for the industry clusters with some of these becoming economic zones "with incentives to allow the production cluster to successfully compete."
