Eco zones report 43% exports rise to $12.7B; work force up 18%

PUBLIC and private economic zones in different parts of the country reported a combined 42.88-percent increase in export earnings in the first four months of the year to $12.69 billion.

Lilia de Lima, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) director general, said that from January to April 2010, exporters located in government-owned economic zones recorded total dollar earnings of about $2.68 billion, up 54.9 percent for the same period last year.

Locators in privately operated economic zones reported total export receipts of $8.67 billion in the first four months of the year. The amount is 43.9 percent higher compared with the same period in 2009.

Information-technology (IT) parks and buildings, home of most of the country’s business-process outsourcing (BPO) firms, posted cumulative dollar earnings of $1.33 billion from January to April, 42.8 percent better than last year.

In terms of employment, de Lima said the different economic zones in the country reported an 18.16-percent growth in the first four months of the year.

De Lima said the Peza-accredited economic zones have a total work force of 671,745 individuals as April 2010 from only 568,476 in April 2009.

Public economic zones reported an employee-base of 123,722 individuals, up 2.63 percent. The private eco zones have total employees of 312,290, up 20.57 percent, and IT parks and buildings with 235,733 employees, up 18.16 percent.

There are six agro-industrial zones, 127 IT parks, 63 manufacturing zones, two medical tourism parks, and nine tourism economic zones that are accredited by Peza. –Max V. de Leon / Reporter, Businessmirror