Malacanang has approved Philstar Marketing Development, Inc. as developer/operator of the first pharmaceutical special economic zone in the country called First Bulacan Business Park (FBBP) with a project cost of P570.586 million. 

President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation No. 1070 granting First Bulacan Business Park the status of a special economic zone on January 11, 2021, a year after the Philippine Economic Zone Authority  approved and signed the Philippine registration under Certificate of Registration No. EZ-21-01 on January 27, 2020.

Envisioned to be the premier ecozone in the country that will host pharmaceutical and support IT companies and export – oriented industries, FBBP plans to adopt smart technologies and renewable source of power inside the ecozone to meet locator companies’ demand for a sustainable business environment.

“We are grateful to the President for the Proclamation of the First Bulacan Business Park, which is the first pharmaceutical ecozone registered under PEZA,” said Director General (DG) Charito “Ching” Plaza.

Plaza said the first pharmaceutical ecozone located in Malolos, Bulacan is a strategic location being in close proximity to the proposed Bulacan International Airport.

Plaza said that existing locators are also expanding and there are also new inquiries to locate in the pharmaceutical park, including an India and Saudi Arabia investors.

Plaza cited the importance of the ecozone as an effective strategy to bounce back from the Covid 19 crisis and to prevent it from happening again. “PEZA will continue to do its best to attract investors that will create more pharmaceutical economic zones in the Philippines, making the country self-reliant, self-sustaining, and resource-generating in terms of producing our own medicines, medical equipment and supplies,” noted Plaza.

Earlier, Senator Francis Tolentino appealed to the government to speed up the establishment of pharmaceutical manufacturing zones to ensure the public’s access to cheaper medicines and help boost the country’s economic growth. Tolentino proposed Senate Resolution No. 580 urging PEZA and the Board of Investments to fast-track its creation of pharmaceutical zones.

Bulacan Governor Daniel Fernando likewise manifested his full support to the proclamation of the ecozone dubbed as “The Pharma Park of the North.”

The COVID-19 outbreak has reaffirmed the need for investment in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. As such PEZA, in addition to the existing medical tourism guidelines, is looking to explore adding to its new types of ecozones “Biomedical Innovative Center” to host leading Biotechnology Companies and Philippine startups (under Innovative Startup Act), including pharmaceuticals.

This will be in the mold of Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster (KBIC), which offers a platform for networking businesses and institutes in their pursuit of innovative collaboration and groundbreaking discoveries in a wide spectrum of medical, pharmaceutical, and biological fields, including medical device and regenerative medical fields.

Plaza said the FBBP will be in support of the business continuity objective of the global pharma companies as it provides redundant site for these pharma companies, which are mostly located in Metro Manila.