CEBU CITY, Oct. 18 (PNA) — A new 36-hectare industrial park in the City of Naga in southern Cebu is expected to generate at least 20,000 jobs, an official said.
Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) Director General Lilia de Lima said the Naga Valley Industrial Park (Nava) in Barangay Cantao-an, City of Naga will further boost development in the southern part of Cebu.
De Lima said she hopes Cebu can have a share of manufacturing and agro-industrial investments soon with the additional 36 hectares for light and medium industrial facilities.
De Lima, who was the guest of honor in Nava’s launching Friday, said the project came as the Philippines is positioned to become the preferred location for foreign investments.
“All our Asian neighbors and even Europe have aging populations. They have the capital and the technology but they lack the human resources, which we have. We are the best in the world,” de Lima said.
She said spreading out economic zones around the country creates “pockets of development” that help meet the government’s inclusive growth agenda.
Cebu, she said, is a popular choice for investors because of its cosmopolitan qualities and proximity to the countryside.
“We are strongly pushing for manufacturing and agro-industrial zones. For inclusive growth, we need to strongly push for these because these companies can hire many high school graduates. Not all can afford to go to college,” she said.
She said that for each worker directly hired in a Peza facility, at least five more persons get new jobs from businesses that serve around that facility.
The property, which the Primary Property Corp. (PPC) acquired from MRC Allied Industries a year and a half ago, is seen as an ideal location for industrial expansion outside of Mactan.
PPC president and CEO William Liu Jr. said many residents of southern Cebu commute to Lapu-Lapu City to work in the economic zones, adding to the traffic.
By spreading opportunities in the southern part of the province, they hope to contribute to easing the volume of commuters heading north every day.
He said they have invested P1 billion for the industrial park and that they have big plans in store, including a parallel road leading to Minglanilla for easier access and a two-hectare indigenous tree farm. (PNA)