TACLOBAN CITY — The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is eyeing the completion of the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone (LEIZ) master plan early next year in a bid to promote the integrated development and competitiveness of copper and other related industries in Eastern Visayas.
NEDA Regional Director Bonifacio Uy said drafting of the detailed study in now ongoing with funding support from the Board of Investments (BOI).
The master plan is being drafted by the Visayas State University in Baybay City.
“The master plan will lay down the details on developing, promoting and optimizing the Leyte Industrial Development Estate (LIDE) and the nearby towns, and benefiting the manufacturing sector of Eastern Visayas,” Uy said in an interview Monday.
LIDE is a 425-hectare special economic zone established in 1978. Located in Isabel, Leyte, it is the home of two major industries — Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. (PASAR) and the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Corp.
The proposed zone is expected to house potential locators in the field of copper wire rod casting facility, downstream copper industry such as but not limited to copper wire producers, major industrial concerns that need power, and port facilities such as steel, and copper-using industries.
LIEZ will be established in several towns in Leyte near the existing LIDE in Isabel town. Planned investments will support the operation of PASAR with electrolytic copper cathode as primary product.
The two documents form part of the Copper Industry Roadmap, which aims to promote the integrated development and competitiveness of copper and other related industries in Eastern Visayas.
Once completed, the master plan will be marketed by the BOI to local and foreign investors.
The proposed industrial zone is seen as a key to reduce the region’s dependency on the heavy industries to improve the regional economy.
“We have to strongly push for the diversification and expansion of the manufacturing subsector as emphasized in the Regional Development Plan. Along this line, we need to promote rural industrialization that will adopt and intensify industry clustering, and competitive and resilient industries, with more and stronger micro, small, and medium enterprises,” Uy said.
The manufacturing subsector remains the biggest contributor to the industrial gross value largely driven by performance of PASAR.
In 2017, the resurgence of the region’s exports, manifested by the significant increase in the value of copper cathodes from the Leyte Industrial Development Estate propelled the growth of the manufacturing subsector.
Copper prices have surged more than 22 percent during the year on the back of a strong demand from the global market.
However, the industry sector, which accounts 42.6 percent to the 2017 gross regional domestic product (GRDP), dropped to negative 1.7 percent from positive 19.5 percent, triggered by slump in the construction and mining and quarrying subsectors, according to PSA.
“The great challenge continues. The performance of the manufacturing subsector alone tells us that our economy remains dependent on the heavy industries in the region’s manufacturing economic zone,” Uy explained.
PASAR gets its raw materials abroad and also ships it finished products outside Philippines hence, its operation has no inclusive economic impact in the region.
PASAR is the country’s only copper smelting and refining firm and one of the biggest in Asia. The firm produces 320,000 metric tons of copper cathodes every year, contributing about 30 percent of the GRDP. (PNA)
