The government today launched the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone (LEIZ) Master Development Plan Project, which is hoped to develop and complete the Philippines copper industry supply chain in Leyte by 2030 and establish the country’s role in modern industries.
The launch of LEIZ Master Plan project was led by the Department of Trade and Industry, Board of Investments, political leaders of Eastern Leyte, National Development Co., and the Palafox & Associates, which is undertaking the masterplan. LEIZ is a proposed development of an estimated 1,000-hectare land in Leyte. It is anchored on the existing copper smelting operation of PASAR (Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining) Corp. located in the Leyte Industrial Development Zone in Isabel, Leyte.
At the launch, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, who is also chairman of the BOI, said that LEIZ, the first ecological zone in the country, will embrace the virtue of circular economy and green economy development.
He said that the completion of the Copper Industry Roadmap in 2012, a triumvirate partnership of the government, private sector, and academe has paved the way to realize a downstream copper industry in the Philippines.
With the country’s vast copper deposits amounting to an estimated 1.14 billion metric tons, Lopez said “We envision a fully integrated Philippine copper industry by the year 2030 through the development of a wire rod casting facility and higher value copper products.”
BOI Managing head Ceferino S. Rodolfo said LEIZ will put an end to the country’s importation of copper products. The Philippines has rich nickel ore resources but these are only turned into copper cathodes at the PASAR facility for export to other countries, particularly Japan, for further processing into copper wires and rods that Philippine electronics and wiring harness firms import for their local assembly needs.
With LEIZ, Rodolfo sees a complete supply value chain all the way to the local production of electric vehicles, home appliances, solar energy, and digitalization, among others.
“We will complete it here, all the way to electric appliances,” said Rodolfo.
He said that the technical plan of LEIZ will be relevant to new normal by taking into consideration the
value chain of the copper industry. He said, LEIZ has supports in terms of policies, incentives, and
promotion under the “Make it Happen in the Philippines” campaign.
“We expect these technologies to accelerate a New Age of Copper in the Philippines as the industries that will produce electric vehicles, 5G networks, and solar power energy will all require large amounts of copper,” added Lopez.
Presently, the electric vehicles industry makes up just 1% of copper demand. By 2030, many analysts expect that figure to reach 10%. Likewise, clean energy and digitalization programs are expected to push average annual growth demand for copper up by 2.5% this decade. This would likely drive consumption toward 30M tons by 2030.
National Development Co. (NDC) General Manager Ma. Lourdes M. Rebueno said they will provide equity support in terms of land acquisition, joint venture projects and logistics for the LEIZ.
Leyte Governor Leopoldo Padilla said “The province of Leyte is ready for manufacturing.” Padilla said this as he stressed that the Philippines missed to industrialize because it jumped from agriculture to services industries instead of developing its own domestic industries to establish a supply value chain.
Architect Felino Palafox Jr. said copper now is the most important building material because it is anti- virus and easy to build. The masterplan, he said, points to the creation of 60,000 industrial jobs and more indirect jobs. LEIZ Master Plan will provide needed jobs and livelihood to the communities of these provinces.
The plan has three development clusters, namely: (1) LEIZ CORE, the manufacturing hub and the primary focus of the Master Plan; (2) LEIZ NORTH as a commercial and agro-industrial hub; and (3) LEIZ SOUTH for agro-industrial development and training facilities. These three sites will complement each other and provide the needed raw materials, products, services, and manpower that the other development cluster needs.
He said the masterplan is anchored on the development of an eco-industrial park, which will house a community of manufacturing and businesses with initiatives that will reduce waste and pollution. LEIZ, which factored in all the lessons and best practices in manufacturing zone developments overseas, will be a model industrial in the country.
It is also expected to attract ideal and aligned projects, mixed use developments, open space and parks taking into consideration water and land features.
In support of these goals, the LEIZ Master Plan lay outs the development of a Zone that will establish different light and heavy industries to boost economic activities in Leyte as well as the nearby provinces of Easter Visayas.
More importantly, Lopez said that as economies adjust to the “New Normal”, there is a need to prepare for the post-COVID future that is driven by digitalization and green technologies.
As the national economy recovers amidst this health crisis, the LEIZ Master Plan is timely and complements the government’s other programs. These include the Balik Probinsya Bagong Pag-asa Program and our economic recovery plan, ReBUILD PH, or “Revitalizing Businesses, Investments, Livelihoods and Domestic Demand.” In both cases, he said, these programs would promote the regional spread of economic activities that would help in our country’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.