PRESS RELEASE
30 November 2022
ILOILO CITY — The Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), through its Tourism Enterprise Zone Management Sector and in partnership with the Department of Tourism (DOT) – Region VI, conducted the Western Visayas Leg of its Investment Promotion Roadshow series entitled, “TIEZA Investment Incentives and Opportunities for Tourism Enterprises,” on 29 November 2022 at Courtyard by Marriott Iloilo in Iloilo City.
It aims to promote TIEZA’s investment opportunities and the incentives available for Registered Business Enterprises (RBE) under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.
TIEZA Chief Operating Officer Mark T. Lapid, led the opening of the program through a video message by emphasizing the significant role of TIEZA in advancing the recovery of the country’s tourism industry.
DOT Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns, Atty. Kristine Vanessa T. Chiong, on behalf of DOT Secretary Atty. Ma. Esperanza Christina Garcia-Frasco, delivered her message of support highlighting the significance of shared responsibility not only in raising the standard of the Philippine tourism but to contribute more towards the sustainable economic development of the country.
On the other hand, DOT – Region VI Regional Director Cristine C. Mansinares shared the tourism investment situationer in Western Visayas Region that gave the participants a preview of the current situation of the tourism in the region, including the priority products and potential investments that will facilitate its vision to be a Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) destination and ecotourism hub.
Atty. Karen Mae G. Sarinas-Baydo, TIEZA’s Assistant Chief Operating Officer for TEZ Management Sector, introduced the Authority’s function as the Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) of the tourism industry and she also updated the participants of the enhanced mandate of TIEZA under the CREATE Act. She then presented the investment opportunities offered in Tourism Enterprise Zones (TEZs), as well as TIEZA’s Joint Venture Guidelines for the public-private cooperation.
Meanwhile, Mr. Donald Maldonado, Manager for Evaluation and Registration Division of TIEZA, detailed the application process in registering tourism-related business enterprise with TIEZA and the incentive grants entitled to Registered Business Enterprises (RBE) under the CREATE Act. He also noted that TIEZA can now register new and expanding stand-alone tourism-related projects/activities.
In an effort to assist the tourism stakeholders, TIEZA also invited representatives from financial institutions to introduce their loan programs designed for tourism-related projects. Ms. Jessica Juanico, Head for Iloilo Lending Center of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), talked about the Connecting Rural Urban Intermodal Systems Efficiently (CRUISE) Program. She underscored tourism infrastructure among the eligible projects that can avail the program, especially connectivity infrastructure that can help increase tourism visits in the far-flung rural areas that can also boast their tourist destinations.
Lastly, Small Business Corporation (SBCorp) Provincial Coordinator, Ms. Wilfe Jimoga-on, introduced their Resilient, Innovative and Sustainable Enterprises, Unleash your Powers (RISE UP) with SBCorp Turismo Program and its objectives to provide multi-purpose loans that have soft terms for the tourism-related projects, especially to help sustain the gains of micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) that have been greatly affected by the pandemic.
An open forum and one-on-one consultation were also part of the program to address the concerns and inquiries of the attendees, and to initially assist them in registering with TIEZA.
This initiative had been supported by key tourism stakeholders in Western Visayas, one of them was the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), represented by its Regional Governor Atty. Jobert Peñaflorida, who concluded the event with his closing message and expressed his gratitude to TIEZA for conducting such investment roadshow that could stimulate their hope to a more reliable tourism for the region, “Allow me to thank the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority for this TIEZA Investment [Roadshow]. I hope this short session has given us the opportunity to learn the investment, incentives as well as other opportunities for tourism enterprises that were presented to us here today and all of these will help us form more dynamic activities here in Region VI, certainly all of our initiatives require the support and assistance of TIEZA,” Atty. Peñaflorida stated in his message.
Other key supporters of this roadshow were Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines, Iloilo Hotel Restaurants and Resorts Association (IHRRA), Boracay MICE Alliance, Iloilo MICE Alliance, and Bacolod MICE Group.
Approximately 70 participants were present during the event which composed of tourism enterprises owners and investors, representatives from tourism and business organizations, and tourism officers among others.
The Western Visayas Leg will be the last of TIEZA’s annual regional roadshow series this year and more of this investment roadshow series are expected to be conducted in 2023. This recently concluded investment roadshow is part of TIEZA’s campaign for a sustainable tourism development towards the economic recovery of the country.
For more information about TIEZA investment roadshows, you may contact the TEZ Management Sector Secretariat at 8249-5900 local 724 or e-mail us at tez.secretariat@gmail.com and tez.secretariat@tieza.gov.ph. You may also visit our website at www.tieza.gov.ph and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TIEZAOfficial and www.facebook.com/tezmgmt, and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/tezmgmt.