The Philippine Economic Zone Authority is targeting more Chinese investors, including small and medium enterprises or SMEs, to set up shop inside economic zones.

Entry of these small manufacturers will stimulate the tourism industry and economy in general.

During the recent China-Philippines Business Forum at the Manila Peninsula, PEZA OIC-director general Tereso Panga briefed Chinese investors.

Officials of the Board of Investments and Bureau of Internal Revenue also participated in the briefing.

They met with big-ticket Chinese investors from Yiwu China Commodities City which was founded in 1982,

The Yiwu China Commodities City is located in Yiwu City, Zhejiang province, consisting of more than 75,000 stores and small commodity producers of 2.1 million items in 26 large-scale business categories.

Trade ties with 210 countries

Yiwu has established trade relations with more than 210 countries and regions around the world, touted as the world’s capital of small commodities, as recognized by the United Nations, the World Bank and Morgan Stanley.

“The economic cooperation with Yiwu will surely increase investment and trade for the country as we attract Yiwu’s small commodity manufacturers to set up their production facilities ideally in the ecozones,” Panga noted.

Under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE regime, Panga said PEZA may now list SMEs and manufacturing companies that will locate in the ecozones to cater to obtain incentives.

“These ecozone-manufactured products can be readily made available to the domestic market, which is expected to be cheaper as compared to imported products and thus, benefiting Filipino consumers,” Panga added.

Other forum participants included top officials from the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, Chinese government agencies such as the Zhejiang Department of Commerce, Yiwu Municipal People’s government, the Bank of China, the Export-Import Bank of China, and representatives from various China-Philippines Chambers of Commerce.