Biz groups forge pact to make Subic, Clark world-class hubs

Two business groups have forged an agreement to help develop Subic and Clark into world-class regional logistics hubs and attract more businesses in the Freeport zones.

In a ceremony held recently at the Hotel Strotsenberg in Clark, the Clark Investors and Locators Association (CILA) and the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce (SBFCC) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to enhance the development of the Subic-Clark Alliance Development Program and the Central Luzon Growth Corridor.

The two groups committed to “cooperate with each other in enhancing the Subic Clark Alliance Development Program and the Central Luzon Growth Corridor through the use of each other’s infrastructure and facilities, information and communication technology, promotions and marketing, and exchange of ideas, expertise, research and planning.”

Under the agreement, the two groups will work together in order to attract more foreign investors.

To attract more investments to Subic and Clark, CILA and SBFCC agreed to encourage and generate investments through a system of referral and joint promotions and marketing.

Also, CILA and SBFCC will organize investment missions that will focus high-tech manufacturing industries and other sectors that specialize on air cargo transport, transshipment, and tourism.

The MOA is expected to “shed off parochialism” by allowing both CILA and SBFCC to combine forces amid “fierce competition” from neighboring Asian countries and other emerging economies worldwide.

CILA president Jeannie Del Rosario-Ng, said Subic and Clark’s new role is to transform the two former United States military installations into world-class regional logistics hubs that cover both air and marine transport.

“This relationship makes perfect sense because of the SCTEx (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway),” Ng said. The new highway has reduced the travel time going to and from Clark and Subic  by half an hour.

The MOA signing also paved the way for the creation of an Advisory Committee that allows both parties to exchange information useful for planning, financing, development, governance, operation and promotion/marketing of their respective freeport zones.

“The next few years are full of promise for Clark and Subic. And with our accord, we are confident that we are better armed to meet the challenges and take advantage of these opportunities,” Ng said.