Philippines
The Philippines has a mixed experience with export processing zones. Some can be considered huge successes such as the special economic zones located at the former American military bases of Subic and Clark in Central Luzon. Others such as the Bataan zone enjoyed only limited success since the location of the zone is not very ideal or strategic. It also did not enjoy absolute industrial peace as there were sporadic wildcat labor strikes within the zone itself. Industrial relations in the Bataan Export Zone were not very peaceful when compared with the other economic zones located elsewhere. In some instances, the local workers’ union organizing activities were infiltrated by some leftist elements out to sow chaos inside the capitalist enclave by agitating the workers. The site below gives a list of some requirements needed to be submitted for a prospective locator in order to be properly registered; it is also the PEZA’s official website:
http://www.peza.gov.ph/registration_sez.htm
In the Philippines, all special economic zones, whether public or private, are under the administrative supervision of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority or PEZA which was created by virtue of a presidential decree and passed into law in 1995 during the term of former President Fidel Ramos. There are 4 public ecozones namely: Bataan (53 operating firms), Baguio (15 operating firms), Cavite (254 operating firms) and Mactan (with 111 operating firms). On the other hand, there are about 42 privately-developed economic zones and another 25 still on the drawing boards and awaiting approval by the president. The biggest private ecozone is the Gateway Business Park located in Gen. Trias, Cavite (southern Luzon). It is the biggest in terms of export value (due to the high concentration of electronics firms inside with high-value added products).
The two multi-layered economic zones of Subic Bay and Clark Air Field are under the semi-autonomous Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the Clark Development Corporation, respectively. There is only 1 tourism-related zone presently operating located in Binangonan, Rizal but there is a proposed much bigger tourism economic zone to be located in the province of Camarines Sur, Bicol region. This particular special tourism zone will be an eco-tourism estate, agri-tourism estate or cultural tourism estate. For a more detailed listing of the various zones, please visit:
http://www.peza.gov.ph/firms_public.htm
There are also numerous IT parks in the country that house most of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industries such as call centers and the medical and legal transcription industries. Some high-rise buildings have been specially designated as PEZA-authorized centers to qualify the businesses inside them to fiscal, tax, and other incentives normally available only to export zones. A sizable majority of fresh college graduates work in these enterprises that require little previous experience. The Philippines can be considered as a top viable alternative for global firms seeking locations for cost-effective back office operations. These include business processes that are outsourced such as accounting services, finance, human resources solutions, IT solutions, engineering designs, and even 2D and 3D animation for TV and movies. For outside investors, the main attraction of the Philippines is its high literacy rate (95%) with superior English language skills and familiarity with Western cultures. Research shows that the Filipinos’ verbal skills in terms of understandability and clarity is much superior to that of India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Ireland or other offshore destinations.