Subic Freeport investments up 101% to $186 million in first half

MANILA, Philippines - Investments in Subic Freeport zone surged by 101 percent as commitments for the first half of the year amounted to $185.9 million from $92.18 million a year ago.

“Considering that we’re still on the tail end of the global recession, it’s quite remarkable that Subic would be hitting more than $37 million per month in terms of new investments,” Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator Armand C. Arreza said.

“Last year, our monthly investments average in the first half was only about $17 million due to the financial slowdown that affected trade in Subic,” he added.

According to Arreza, a total of 56 new projects were approved by the agency in the first half, up from 51 in the same period last year.

Of the new projects, foreign direct investments totaled $114.58 million or an increase of 98.28 percent from $57.78 million in the same period last year.

Local investments, meanwhile, reached a total of $71.29 million, a 140 percent increase over last year’s $29.67 million.

Arreza said that once operational, the new investment projects are expected to create 6,725 new jobs.

Arreza also noted the growing participation of local companies in the economic development of the Subic Freeport, as the global recession somewhat curtailed the entry foreign investments.

He said that of the top 10 new investors in the first half this year, seven companies are fully Filipino-owned.

The biggest investment commitment, however, was made by the Chinese firm Sunnew-Subic Investments Ltd., which pledged $75 million for the construction of wind energy projects at two sites in the Subic Bay Freeport.

Arreza said that Sunnew-Subic has proposed to construct a total of 25 wind turbines, with the project covering a total area of 50,000 square meters at both the Mt. Sta. Rita and the Redondo Peninsula sites.

Once completed, these wind turbines will make Subic the country’s first economic zone to have a renewable energy facility.

The project will produce about 50 megawatts of power by 2012, and will initially employ 103 workers.

Meanwhile, the second biggest investment project was pledged by Filipino firm Subic Bay Town Center Inc., which committed a total of $36.42 million for the development of a commercial center.

With a projected employment of 4,320, the Subic Bay Town Center project is also expected to be one of the biggest employers in the Subic Freeport in the coming years.