Subic Freeport tops 2006 investment record

By Anthony Bayarong

SUBIC BAY Freeport: The year is not yet over but this free port has already topped its 2006 investment record by $30 million.

Records show that total investment of Subic Bay Freeport for 2006 was $1.425 Billion. For 2007, investments at the free port have already reached a total of $1.450 Billion for the period January to September.

The new commitments spiked Subic’s total cumulative investments to $5.22 billion, or a 28-percent increase over the 2006 cumulative record of $3.76 billion.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator Armand Arreza said the SBMA’s aggressive business promotion campaign has fueled the steady rise of investments in the free port in the past two years.

“We’ve described 2006 as a banner year for Subic when we bagged the $1-billion Hanjin project, but it appears that we’re going to top that record still,” Arreza said.

“With a full quarter to go, we’ve already hit the $1.45-billion mark, which is almost a $30-million increase over last year’s total of $1.425 billion,” Arreza added.

This year, Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Corp.-Philippines also delivered the biggest new investment when it infused an additional $684 million to cover additional orders for vessels made in its Subic shipyard.

Another Korean investor, KT Global Subic Inc., signed up in July for a high-rise complex worth $127 million, the SBMA said.

Meanwhile, the SBMA board approved 26 new investments in September, including a $1-million real-estate development project, according to the SBMA Market Research and Planning Department (MRPD).

The new projects, worth a total of $4.5 million, are expected to generate more than 600 new jobs, said MRPD manager Raymund Siongco.

The two biggest projects approved in September are those of Millenium Properties, which committed $1 million for hotel and restaurant operation, and Sungdo Steel Services, Inc., which will engage in construction and repair works, as well as import and export activities.

Korean investors own Millenium Properties, Sungdo Steel, and seven other firms in September’s top 10 biggest lists. The fifth biggest project, Biglift Intl. Inc., is a Filipino-owned company, while two others are joint venture projects.

The SBMA-MRPD also reported that as of the third quarter, the Subic Bay Free Port Zone has a total active workforce of 70,179, a slight drop from the 70,408 total recorded in August.
The drop, it added, was due to a decrease in worker deployment by port contractors who had recently completed their projects in Subic.

Most of the workers in Subic are employed by the services sector, which accounts for 81 percent, followed by those in the construction sector, 12 percent, and manufacturing, 7 percent.
Following the rising trend in investment commitments, the number of active workforce in Subic also rose steadily over the years, the SBMA said.

From the baseline data of 19,969 in 1999, the cumulative number of workers in Subic increased to 30,139 in 2000; 45,742 in 2001; 48,874 in 2002; 51,486 in 2003; 55,875 in 2004; 59,764 in 2005; and 63,485 in 2006.

The SBMA added that 43 percent of the current workforce comes from Olongapo City; 22 percent from Zambales; 14 percent from Bataan; 6 percent from the National Capital Region; 3 percent from Pampanga; and 12 percent from other areas.