Skip to main content

MMSU, PEZA sign deal to establish Region I ecozone

By

 
MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis (seated, center) and PEZA Director General Charito B. Plaza (seated, right) sign the memorandum of understanding for the establishment of the Economic Zone Institute in Region I which will help promote export-oriented investments and increase productivity and income in the countryside. (Photo courtesy of MMSU-OP)


By Reynaldo E. Andres
Contributor

BATAC City—The Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in this city and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) have agreed to establish a Special Economic Zone Institute in Region I, which will help promote export-oriented investments and increase productivity and income in the countryside.

A memorandum of understanding was formally signed on September 25, 2019 at the Bonifacio Global City in Metro Manila between MMSU President Shirley C. Agrupis and PEZA Director General Charito B. Plaza.

Dr. Agrupis said MMSU is the only state university in the Ilocos region which shall serve as the program-delivering partner and office host of the SEZ Institute that will be established in this city.

“MMSU was selected because it possesses operational facilities in research, instruction, and socio-cultural development service, making it the ideal and practical program-delivering partner of the SEZ institute,” she claimed.

An SEZ or ecozone is a selected area with highly developed or which has the potential to become a center of development in the agro-industrial, industrial, tourist/recreational, and commercial sectors, as well as banking, investment and financial centers. It may contain any or all of these.

“The SEZ Institute for Region I will help strengthen the measures of coordination, collaboration and cooperation among the government, the industry and the academe in preparing for local responses to global challenges in the competition for investment locations in the Asia Pacific region,” Dr. Agrupis explained.

The institute will also serve as a government facility for and in capacitating industry-responsive research, industry-specific programs of instruction, industrialized campus production function, as well as advocacy-contextualized and arts-inspired socio-cultural services all geared towards a locally-positioned strategy in promoting export-oriented industries for the province and in the region.

After the MOU signing, MMSU and PEZA plan to prepare and enter into a specific memorandum of agreement to secure and comply with the requirements in establishing the SEZ Institute in the future.

Once established, both agencies shall equip and mobilize SEZ institute “as a think tank and crusader for green inclusive growth, green entrepreneurship and in advocating for robust creation of climate-resilient ecozones, as springboard to developing green industrial towns and ultimately a smart city in the region.”

The university shall also support, cooperate and assist the PEZA as it coordinates and collaborates with fellow government agencies and relevant sectors in constituting a Regional Technical Working Group (RTWG) that shall study and recommend the approaches, methods and techniques in carrying out the goals and thrusts of the subject institute for the province and in the region.

Prior to this, the MMSU has already proposed three ecozone initiatives to the PEZA this year. These include the transformation of the MMSU College of Aquatic Science and Applied Technology (CASAT) in Currimao town as an aquamarine zone; the conversion of the university’s forest reserve plantations in Brgy. Payao in this city as an agroforestry zone; and the creation of Knowledge, Innovation, Science and Technology (KIST) Park inside the university main campus.

Republic Act No. 7916 or the Special Ecozone Act of 1995 mandates the PEZA to provide employment opportunities for the Filipinos, increase their productivity and income, especially those in the rural areas through the establishment of SEZ of various types in suitable and strategic locations in the country, and through a measure that shall effectively attract legitimate and productive investments. (With a report from Daniel P. Tapaoan Jr.)

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Free dormitories eyed for Nueva Era students in LC, Batac

By
 Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida By Dominic B. dela Cruz ( Staff Reporter) Nueva Era , Ilocos Norte—The municipal government here, headed by Nueva Era mayor Aldrin Garvida is planning to establish dormitories in the cities of Laoag and Batac that will exclusively cater to college students from the said cities. “Sapay la kuma ta maituloyen iti mabiit tay ar-arapaapen tayo ken iti munisipyo a maipatakderan kuma dagiti annak tayo a college students nga agbasbasa idiay siyudad iti Batac ken Laoag iti libre a dormitoryo a bukod da ngem inggana nga awan pay ket an-anusan mi paylaeng nga ibaklay kenni apo bise mayor iti pagbayad da iti kasera aggapu iti bukod mi a suweldo malaksid dagitay it-ited iti munisipyo ken iti barangay nga stipend da kada semester, ” Garvida said.    Garvida added that the proposed establishment of dormitories would be a big help to the students’ parents as this would shoulder the expenses of their children for rent and likewise they would feel more secured
Post a Comment
Read more

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By
By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become an annua
9 comments
Read more

P29 per kilo rice sold to vulnerable groups in Ilocos region

By
BBM RICE. Residents buy rice for only PHP29 per kilo at the NIA compound in San Nicolas town, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. The activity was under a nationwide pilot program of the government to sell quality and affordable rice initially to the vulnerable sectors. (Lei Adriano) San Nicolas , Ilocos Norte —Senior citizens, persons with disability, and solo parents availed of cheap rice sold at PHP29 per kilogram during the grand launching of the Bagong Bayaning Magsasaka (BBM) Rice held at the National Irrigation Administration compound in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte province on Sept. 13, 2024. “ Maraming salamat Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa inyong pagmamahal sa Region 1 lalong-lalo na sa bayan namin sa San Nicolas,” said Violeta Pasion, a resident Brgy.   18 Bingao in this town. The low-priced grains were sourced from the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) contract farming with irrigators' association members in the province. Along with Pasion, Epi
Post a Comment
Read more