MIC chief eyes creation of ‘mega ecozones’

MANILA, Philippines — The head of state-run Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) is looking at the creation of ‘mega ecozones’ by utilizing idle state lands to attract investments and generate jobs for Filipinos.

In a television interview with CNN Philippines late Wednesday night, MIC president and CEO Rafael Consing Jr. said one of the four investment pillars of the corporation is agroforestry industrial urbanism.

“We will look at idle lands owned by the government and those owned by agencies. If you redevelop them together, what I have in mind is to create mega ecozones,” Consing said.

“Around those, we will be building agriculture and basically putting the farmers and processors and all parts of the ecosystem together to make it more efficient and reduce the cost of logistics,” he said.

According to the MIC chief, there are roughly two million hectares of land owned by the government that the corporation may look into depending on the specifics.

Consing maintained that developing mega ecozones could attract potential locators, especially as a number of investors are looking into contiguous lands that are quite difficult to find.

Another element of the mega ecozones is the creation of townships to allow people to live near where they work, thereby improving the quality of their lives.

Similarly, it aims to decongest urban centers, mitigate climate change, and generate carbon credits that can be sold to create more capital.

“Today, many of our countrymen are unable to buy land or homes, and if they do, they’re quite small,” Consing said.

“Here, since it’s government-owned, we can enter into long-term leases [agreement] with them instead of actually selling them the land,” he said.

Further, Consing maintained that crafting such is expected to become a game changer in terms of creating a potential opportunity for foreign direct investments to come in.

“Once you develop those mega ecozones, you can create job opportunities, boost export earnings, and create townships and potentially improve the quality of life,” Consing said.