Subic exports up 9% last year

Exports emanating from the Subic Bay Freeport increased nine percent to $1.185 billion in 2000, the Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) reported yesterday.

Arnelo Dizon, manager for Subic of Philexport’s one-stop export documentation center (OSEDC), said the Subic Bay Freeport has sustained its annual export average of $1.1 billion with the electronics sector accounting for the bulk of exports with a share of 80 percent.

Dizon expressed confidence that the freeport’s exports for this year will be significantly higher with the expected operation of three huge Japanese manufacturing firms.

He said Sanyo Denki Philippines, which started operating in the freeport in the last quarter of 2000, is projected to ship out monthly some P2.5-billion worth of electronic parts this year.

Another firm, Sangyo Corp. which is a wood processing firm, is also expected to export this year about 600 containers a month. This will increase to 7,500 containers a month when the company goes full blast in its operations, Dizon said. The third firm, Sankyo Seiki Manufacturing Co., is now constructing a plant for the manufacture of micromotors for hard disk drives. Sankyo Seiki’s expected operations would also contribute to higher export figures this year, Dizon said.

Total exports from the Subic Bay Freeport from January 1999 to December 2000 amounted to $2.27 billion. Adding of the value of exports for the fourth quarter of 1998, the total exports from the freeport would amount to P2.49 billion.

The Subic Bay Freeport is managed by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) with Felicito Payumo as chairman.