PEZA to launch electronic marketplace for locators
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has announced its plan to launch an electronic marketplace initiative in the first quarter of next year, aiming to facilitate sourcing for their locators both from foreign suppliers and local businesses. During a press briefing on Dec. 22, PEZA Director General Tereso Panga revealed that the agency is currently onboarding participating investors and businesses for the e-marketplace platform.
Panga emphasized the goal of integrating local providers into the ecozone value chain through the e-marketplace. The platform is expected to enable the growth of local business sourcing more than the international sourcing of foreign firms. Interested businesses will have to undergo an enrollment process in order to be accredited as suppliers for the platform.
Last July, PEZA signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the PEZA Digital Marketplace in collaboration with Net Global Solutions, Inc. This new initiative aims to be the first business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform for PEZA locators, allowing them to market Philippine goods and products and access global suppliers for resources, equipment, supplies, and technologies.
PEZA, which hosts more than 400 ecozones and caters to 4,352 locator companies and projects, has a strong focus on information technology (IT) parks and centers, with electronics and semiconductors making up 34.4 percent of locator investments. Of these, around 27 percent are investments from Japanese locator firms, 23 percent from Filipino companies, and 14.82 percent from American companies.
Overall, the electronic marketplace initiative is expected to provide PEZA-registered enterprises with easier access to sourcing and procurement operations with local and foreign buyers within their ecozones.
