DAVAO CITY – A proposed bill creating Southern Palawan Special Economic Zone and Free Port Authority gets an endorsement from the
Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Board during the 2nd MinDA Board Meeting held here last March 31.
House Bill 4363 seeks for the creation the Southern Palawan Special Economic Zone and Free Port (SPSEZ) as well as a body corporate or an
Authority to administer its operations, appropriating the funds thereof and for other purposes.
The bill offers a package of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to attract prospective foreign and local investors in order to fully maximize the development potentials of the province and the region as well.
Sec. Luwalhati Antonino, chairperson of the MinDA board, said that Palawan has been underscored as a growth hub in the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) and considered as one of the sub-region’s development priority areas.
“As part of the EAGA focus areas, Southern Palawan holds viable potentials for increased trade with the ASEAN countries,” Sec.
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Antonino said.
Rep. Ma. Rachel Arenas, chair of the House Committee on BIMP-EAGA affairs and author of the bill, said that they are looking at the municipality of Brooke’s Point as the initial development area of the proposed ecozone.
Brooke’s Point’s strategic location provides an effective hub for trade and investment with neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.
