LEGAZPI CITY—The National Economic Development Authority (Neda) has identified seven key areas in Bicol that would benefit from P4.5 billion in initial investments allotted for the region.

The Philippine Economic Zones Authority (Peza) has declared the key areas as special economic zones (SEZs).

The SEZs in Albay province are the 33.13-hectare Legazpi City Special Economic Zone in barangay Banquerohan and the 31.3-hectare Tiwi Ecozone in barangay Bagumbayan, Tiwi town.

The Legazpi SEZ would cost P206 million to develop, Neda regional director Romeo Escandor said on Tuesday.

The city government is developing the area to accommodate investments in food and beverage processing, light metal industry, electronics and appliance manufacturing, and furniture and fixture making.

Escandor said investments in the Legazpi complex would also accommodate factories that make garments, textile, gift items, toys, housewares, organic chemicals, ceramics, as well as nonmetallic mineral processing plants.

Mayor Noel Rosal said the site will have a stable supply of water and electricity, good access roads and security service.

The city is also host to the Embarcadero de Legazpi, a P1.8-billion economic tourism hub being developed by the Sunwest Group of Companies in a 5.1-hectare bayfront commercial complex.

It is slated to start operations before the year ends.    

With an estimated development cost of P98.8 million, the Tiwi site would like to host factories of electronics and computer peripherals, garments, ready-to-wear apparels and wood-based products, Escandor said. The Tiwi Ecozone Corp. is developing it.

Tiwi is also home to Chevron’s geothermal-energy complex that produces some 300 megawatts of power for the National Power Corp.’s Luzon power grid.

In Camarines Norte, the SEZ is the 30-hectare Global Industrial and Maritime Complex in Larap, a coastal village in Jose Panganiban town. Its estimated cost of development is $23 million, or P1.1 billion.

Escandor said the Larap site is designed to accommodate investors in agribusiness, the electronics industry and makers of military supplies and armaments.

The region’s other investment areas include the Bicol Industrial Park (BIP), Isarog Heights Special Economic Zone (IHSEZ), Naga Agro-Industrial Center (NAIC) and Sta. Rita Industrial Park (SRIP), all in Camarines Sur province.

BIP is a 100-hectare site in barangay San Jose, Bula town. Spearheaded by developer FPI Industrial Park Inc., the P620-million SEZ will house businesses engaged in food processing, wood products, ceramics, textiles, wearing apparels and electronics, Escandor said.

IHSEZ is in barangay Cadlan, Pili town, being developed by Manubay Agro-Industrial and Development Corp. in a 124-hectare site.

It has an estimated development cost of about P800 million, Escandor said. IHSEZ will accommodate manufacturing and food-processing plants.

Also in Pili town is SRIP being developed by Sta. Rita Ecozone Corp. The estimated development cost of SRIP is P1.4 billion.

The 219-hectare SEZ is located specifically in barangays San Jose and Sagurong.

Escandor said SRIP is designed to accommodate manufacturers for information technology (IT) and IT-related products such as motherboards, telephone sets, CD-ROM, and electronics equipment and peripherals.

NAIC is a 105-hectare complex in barangay Pacol, Naga City. Pacol Industrial Development Corp. is developing the site for P515.9 million.

The Neda regional chief said the Pacol site prefers to house light and medium industries that produce little or no pollution, noting that these would include electronics, electrical, and agro-based factories, as well as producers of processed food, wood products, ceramics and textile.

The SEZ sites will certainly boost Bicol’s economic prospects, according to Escandor, saying that the region is the second-poorest of the country’s 16 regions, Escandor said.

Bicol badly needs the investments in SEZs for these can generate more jobs and business opportunities and spur food production, he said, and noted that the region’s population had breached the 5-million mark as of the census on August 1, 2007.