Salceda seeks full-time PEZA chief to woo big investors

House ways and means panel chairperson Joey Salceda on Friday urged President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to appoint a full-time director general for the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), saying it is needed to catch big time investors.

Salceda said it could be done soon as the Commission on Appointments already confirmed Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual, who also chairs the PEZA Board.

“Many congratulations to Secretary Fred Pascual. Now I hope a permanent PEZA head is next,” he said.

“The world is beginning to go back to pre-pandemic normalcy, as Secretary Pascual would know. So, some unique windows of opportunity to take advantage of COVID-19 worries multinational firms are also closing. We need a PEZA Director General who can shoot decisively in the hunt for big whales and elephants of investors. Only security of tenure can give that certainty,” he added.

Salceda said he recommended a few names to the President for the PEZA director general but conceded that Secretary Pascual is in a better position to make a case before the chief executive.

“With PEZA now having a permanent Board chair, we need a permanent PEZA Director General, not an OIC. The PEZA DG can make longer-term commitments and make a stronger case for special incentives for special circumstances to the Fiscal Incentives Review Board. That’s crucial for attracting big whales,” he said.

Salceda said the country should begin preparing more long-term incentive packages for big electronics companies such as TSMC, big defense manufacturers, and firms engaged in critically deficient areas such as shipbuilding.

“The services sector is straightforward, almost ministerial. But manufacturing, especially capital-intensive manufacturing, requires more tailor-fit incentives and various other forms of support. During former President Gloria Arroyo’s time, we provided special electricity cost and access incentives to Texas Instruments through EO no. 666, s. 2007. That is a non-fiscal incentive that is perfectly allowed under the Create law,” he said.

“A permanent PEZA Director General can negotiate such incentives with big investors, but we need someone who has some job security over the remaining five years of this administration. The current OIC arrangement doesn’t quite meet that standard,” he added.

PEZA's current officer-in-charge Tereso Panga also serves as PEZA's deputy director general for policy and planning.—AOL, GMA Integrated News