The government stands to gain an additional $200 billion in revenues from exports should the proposed Bulacan Airport Economic Zone push through, bilyonaryo Ramon Ang said Monday (July 4).
Ang made the statement in the wake of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s veto of a bill creating the Bulacan Airport City Special Economic Zone and Freeport.
Marcos cited “substantial fiscal risks” and “lack of coherence with existing laws” as reasons for vetoing the bill, which was sponsored by his sister, Senator Imee Marcos.
Ang said the proposed ecozone will be the home of science and technology export hubs that will have the cheapest logistics cost
“We are looking to attract world-class semiconductor manufacturers, battery power storage system manufacturers, electric vehicle makers, and even modular nuclear power assemblies and other new and emerging tech industries,” Ang said.
“We estimate these industries alone will add some US$200 billion in annual exports—a big boost to our GDP,” he added.
Ang said San Miguel Corporation will work with the administration to improve the measure.
“The Bulacan economic zone, if approved, would be managed by the Philippine government, and any tax incentives to be given to investors will still pass the Department of Finance’s Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) review and approval process, to ensure these are aligned with the CREATE Law,” the SMC big boss added.
The Bulacan airport was an unsolicited proposal from Ang’s conglomerate which was approved by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Contrary to Marcos’ statement, Ang said long-term benefits of the Bulacan ecozone would “far outweigh” perceived losses by way of tax breaks given to potential locators, such as thousands of job openings.
“Incentives are a way for government to attract much-needed investments into our country, especially now that we are all pulling together to help our economy not just recover, but continuously grow in the post-pandemic era,” he added.