Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Tereso O. Panga and NetGlobal Solutions Inc. Chairman and CEO, Peter G. Lingatong signed last Tuesday, July 25, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on PEZA Digital Marketplace – the first business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce unified platform for PEZA locators.
The signing took place at the PEZA Head Office, Double Dragon West Tower, Pasay City with Mr. Bong Fajardo Jr., Business Development Manager, NetGlobal Solutions Inc. and Atty. Jenny June G. Romero, PEZA OIC Deputy Director General for Finance and Administration standing as witnesses.
The signed MOA aims to strengthen the ease of doing business (EODB) in the economic zones as mandated in Republic Act No. 11032 or the “Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Services Delivery Act of 2018” which directs all offices and agencies to improve transactions systems and procedures to streamline the delivery of government services.
With this partnership, PEZA and NGSI will capacitate PEZA’s registered business enterprises (RBEs), particularly, the exporters, to increase their online presence and utilize digital platforms increasing the market presence of Philippine goods and services globally. The subscribed users of the digital marketplace will also benefit from access to global suppliers of machinery and equipment, raw materials, supplies, emerging technologies and solutions, thereby improving the sourcing and procurement by ecozone RBEs.
Under the agreement, NGSI will provide the development, operation, and the maintenance of the PEZA Directory, PEZA Build-a-site, and PEZA Digital Marketplace Platform (DMP). The database development for this PEZA digital marketplace will likewise cover the local producers and suppliers of goods/services to provide support to our ecozone locators. As such, this key measure to enhance the ecozone forward and backward linkages will accelerate the integration of our Filipino MSMEs into the ecozone value chain.
Meanwhile, PEZA will be responsible in providing the necessary and requested documentation, information, and knowledge capital to NGSI, engage and integrate NGSI’s system and other related services to support and augment its services, and encourage registered RBEs to subscribe in the PEZA DMP to name a few.
The PEZA Digital Marketplace is a pioneer and a legacy project spearheaded by Director General Panga. According to him, “The PEZA Digital Marketplace completes the local supply and global value chain for the Philippine economic development. This will also increase our competitiveness to attract more investors to set up off-shore facilities and operations in the Philippines, particularly, in our ecozones.”
The PEZA Digital Marketplace grand launching is slated to happen in September 2023, which will then be followed by a series of roadshows with PEZA clusters nationwide.