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By LITO RULONA,
Correspondent

THE Committee on Trade, Commerce and Industry has welcomed the incoming 4,000 new jobs for Kagayanons as the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) proposed approval of the accreditation filed by SM Premier Cagayan de Oro in the city.

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This was revealed by City Councilor George Goking after city government represented by City Treasurer Glenn Bañez, City Assessor Joshua del Bando, SM City Cagayan de Oro Assistant Mall Manager Constantine Arce and SM Premier Cagayan de Oro Assistant Mall Manager Hazel Yap agreed in one term to prioritized Kagayanons in the upcoming employment opportunities.

Goking who chairs the committee on Trade, Commerce and Industry said SM Premier Cagayan de Oro assured during the committee meeting held Wednesday afternoon to prioritize Kagayanons who are still seeking reliable jobs in the market.

Dako na kaayo kini nga tabang alang sab sa mga bag-o nga graduate this coming March. Because SM Premier Cagayan de Oro will open by May this year. The new graduates and those still considered as job seekers would be benefited for this development,” he said.

Peza consultant Elmer Francisco said all the questions and concerns from the body and the SM Premier application for Peza accreditation will be up for resolution by Feb 14 at the City Council level as a requirement for Presidential Proclamation.

After the meeting, SM City Cagayan de Oro Assistant Mall Manager Constantine P. Arce shows Peza Accredited IT Center of SM City Cagayan de Oro.

‘It’s a 2 level 7,840.34 sqm facility at the carpark building that had no locators since it got accredited in 2004. Based on our meeting, it seems to me that it was the unclear definition of Information Technology that kept it vacant for over a decade now. They have a number of IT tenants inside the mall who never took advantage of the incentives that Peza has to offer,” he added.

He said it is not just call centers, it includes television, telephone, computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, e-commerce, among many others.

“Though the main market of Peza is for export, there are plenty of categories or terminologies in Peza that are practically unknown to the public and to the business community such as Domestic Market Enterprise, Pioneer Enterprise, Utilities Enterprise, etc,” he pointed out.

Francisco said he is not blaming the management or the previous Peza administration, but this is clearly a lack of information or awareness drive. Peza had been simply waiting for far too long for locators to come instead of aggressively inviting and attracting businesses to actually set-up shop.

“Now, it’s high time to educate the public and possible business locators about what they can and cannot do in Peza accredited IT Centers and other special economic zones (SEZ). This calls for talks and symposia in order to proactively educate the public and the businesses, both local and international, on the advantage of doing business in Peza accredited facilities,” he added.

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