ABOITIZ Infracapital will be expanding its West Cebu Estate (WCE) by adding 39 hectares to the existing 280-ha economic zone proclaimed by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).
The expansion project, which will have an initial investment of P1.4 billion, will introduce four new locators and is expected to generate 14,000 new jobs, PEZA Director General Tereso Panga said on Wednesday.
The WCE currently hosts 23 companies that generate 13,935 direct jobs. These collectively generate $47.5 million in average monthly exports and account for a combined investment of P35 billion.
The expansion project is set to be finished by the second quarter of 2025. PEZA said the developer had yet to name the four new locators yet.
“These AIC-owned ecozones are vital job-generation platforms that invigorate the economic activities in the provinces where they are located,” Panga said.
The West Cebu Estate, the PEZA said, is a shipbuilding capital and a key driver of economic growth in the region.
AIC recently held the groundbreaking of its 160-ha TARI Estate in Tarlac City, a P7-billion development that is set to be registered with the PEZA.
Other ecozones owned by AIC include the LIMA Estate in Lipa, Batangas, and Mactan Economic Zone II in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.
AIC ecozones house more than 250 business enterprises, generating a combined total of P155 billion in investments and employing over 100,000 Filipinos, the PEZA said.
Panga said that “partnerships with developers are vital since they are the entities that infuse capital and utilize core competencies to develop the proclaimed ecozone land, which they eventually manage together with and under PEZA.”