Subic exports pass $1-B mark

Exports coming out of the Subic Freeport passed the $1-billion mark in the first 10 months this year, increasing by 13.25 percent as investors showed continued confidence in the free zone.

Data from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) show that 10-month export receipts increased from the $896.26 billion last year to $1.015 billion this year.

With a 16-percent share of total exports from January to October, Subic Freeport is now the third largest export revenue earner in the country, next only to Metro Manila which contributed 39 percent and Baguio which contributed 28 percent.

Over the last two years, SBMA said the zone exported a total of $2.32 billion, representing 62 percent of the cumulative export value pegged at $3.71 billion since the zone was created in 1992.

As a result, SBMA said collection by the Bureau of Customs increased by 100 percent to P1.86 billion from January to November 2000.

The Bureau of Internal Revenues also reported an increase in its tax collections from P521.634 million in January to November last year to this year’s P544.447 million.

According to SBMA, Japanese investors continued to be the most optimistic among freeport locators, with three of the top manufacturing corporations in Japan deciding to locate their factories in Subic.

Sankyo Seiki Manufacturing Ltd, one of the biggest publicly-listed corporations in Japan, broke ground in the freeport where it would begin the construction of its plant, committing a total of $100 million of investments.

Juken Sangyo, on the other hand, would begin the production of wood panels and decorative lumber boards after signing a long-term lease contract with $20 million worth of committed investments for setting up its plant there.

On the whole, the country’s special economic zones generated $14.358 billion worth of exports during the first eight months of the year, 19.29 percent higher than the $11.562 billion recorded over the same period last year.

Data from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) reveal that Laguna Technopark Inc. continued to be the biggest export-generating zone, recording a total of $3.339 billion worth of exports from January to September this year.

LTI is host to two of the country’s top three electronic exporters — Amkor Anam and Toshiba Information Equipment Phils. Inc. — contributing the bulk of the zone’s exports. During the period, its exports increased by 22.14 percent.

On the whole, PEZA said the strong performance of the export processing zones was due to the continued expansion of the country’s semiconductor and electronic microcircuits production and export. — Des Ferriols