Vol. XXII, No. 170 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
THE HOUSE of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to declare the entire Cebu province as the Cebu Economic Development Zone (CEDZ), a statement yesterday read.
House Bill (HB) 5828, or the proposed "Cebu Economic Development Zone Act of 2009" principally authored by Cebu City Reps. Raul V. del Mar (1st district) and Antonio V. Cuenco (2nd district), was approved last Feb. 24 and was transmitted to the Senate two days afterwards.
"There is a growing need to harness the resources of Cebu which possesses all the economic ingredients and qualifications for a viable ecozone as a pilot for sub-national business environment reforms to implement the administration’s thrust to minimize, if not eradicate poverty, especially in the countryside," he said in a phone interview.
Under the bill, the CEDZ will be managed and operated by the Cebu Economic Development Zone Authority (CEDZA).
CEDZ will be managed and operated as a separate customs territory, thereby ensuring the free flow or movement of goods and capital within, into and out of the CEDZ and will likewise provide incentives such as tax- and duty-free importation of raw materials and capital equipment to registered enterprises located there.
CEDZA will provide a six-year income tax holiday (ITH) to registered domestic enterprises. Registered export enterprises can only be entitled to a six-year ITH if they have large capital investments or sizeable employment generation and they use a high level of technology, in which case their ITH can be extended up to eight years. — JFSV
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