The Philippine Economic Zone Authority said Monday it approved registration of the P570.58-million First Bulacan Business Park—the first mixed use pharmaceutical ecozone in the north near the proposed Bulacan International Airport.
Ecozone developer and operator Philstar Marketing Development Inc. signed the registration agreement with PEZA on Jan. 27, 2020.
“We are grateful to the President for the Proclamation of the First Bulacan Business Park, which is the first pharmaceutical ecozone registered under PEZA,” said PEZA director-general Charito Plaza.
The site in Malolos, Bulacan is designed as a premier ecozone that will host pharmaceutical and support IT companies and export-oriented industries. First Bulacan Business Park plans to adopt smart technologies and renewable source of power inside the ecozone to meet the demand of locator companies’ for a sustainable business environment.
President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation No. 1070 on Jan. 11, 2021, granting First Bulacan Business Park the status of a “special economic zone.” Plaza cited the importance of the ecozone as an effective strategy to bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis and prevent it from happening again.
“PEZA will continue to do its best to attract investors that will create more pharmaceutical economic zones in the Philippines, making the country self-reliant, self-sustaining and resource-generating in terms of producing our own medicines, medical equipment and supplies,” said Plaza.
Senator Francis Tolentino appealed to the government last year to hasten the establishment of pharmaceutical manufacturing zones to improve the public’s access to cheaper medicines and help boost the country’s economic growth. Tolentino proposed Senate Resolution No. 580 urging PEZA and the Board of Investments to fast-track the creation of pharmaceutical zones.
Plaza said the COVID-19 outbreak reaffirmed the need for investment in healthcare, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
“As such PEZA, in addition to the existing medical tourism guidelines, is looking to explore adding to its new types of ecozones ‘Biomedical Innovative Center’ to host leading biotechnology companies and Philippine startups under Innovative Startup Act including pharmaceuticals,” she said.
The planned pharma ecozone will be in the mold of Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster which offers a platform for networking businesses and institutes in their pursuit of innovative collaboration and groundbreaking discoveries in a wide spectrum of medical, pharmaceutical, and biological fields, including medical device and regenerative medical fields.
First Bulacan Business Park offers a redundant site outside the National Capital Region and in the countryside, in support of the business continuity objective of the global pharma companies which are mostly located in Metro Manila.