ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 23 July) – The heads of the country’s major investment promotion intermediaries (IPIs) that comprise the Philippine Investment Promotion Plan Steering Committee (PIPP-SC) will convene here for a three-day planning workshop starting Thursday.
Christopher Lawrence Arncuo, Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority and Freeport (Zamboecozone) chairman and administrator, said the PIPP-SC is set to evaluate the current investment promotions plan and assess the aggregate performance of the member IPIs relative to the 2010-2014 investment plan.
Currently there are 18 IPIs that comprise the PIPP-SC: Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Board of Investments (BOI), Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority, Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, Clark Development Corporation, John Hay Management Corporation, Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Philippine Retirement Authority, Phividec Industrial Authority, Poro Point Management Corporation, Regional Board of Investments-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Tourism Promotions Board, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), and the Zamboecozone.
Arnuco said the workshop expects the PIPP-SC to conceive promotional strategies and formulate plans for synchronized marketing efforts, as well as to fashion the framework for the creation of the long and medium term promotions plans of the county, which will guide the member agencies for the next five years.
Arnuco said the 2015-2019 Philippine Investment Promotion Plan (PIPP) will serve as the road map for all the IPIs and outline a coordinated and focused international marketing effort that would maximize the country’s marketing resources and promote the various and varied investment opportunities in the different growth centers around the Philippines.
He said that Arnerl Paciano Casanova, president and chief executive of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and current PIPP-SC chairman, will lead the 50-man participants in the three-day workshop.
He said the crafting of the PIPP was first announced in May 2009, and was funded by the JICA, to harmonize the incentives offered by the different investment promotion agencies and to synchronize their investment promotions activities, with the goal of boosting the country’s competitiveness, generating more direct investments and creating more employment opportunities to foster a sustained inclusive growth for the country.
Meanwhile, he said the gathering of country’s premier investment promotions managers will afford his office a unique opportunity to present the numerous investment opportunities and showcase the progressive business climate of this city and the Zamboecozone.
He said it will likewise enhance the status and standing of the Zamboecozone among the PIPP members and allow it to better position the zone towards more favorable investment prospects, hence fulfilling its mandate of bringing in direct investments and generating more employment for the city’s populace.
He said the holding of PIPP-SC planning workshop in this city was organized through the concerted efforts of the Zamboecozone, local government and the first and second districts of the congressional offices.
