First Holdings allots P1B for expansion of sp’l ecozone

MANILA, Philippines - First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH)  is spending P1 billion to expand the First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP) in Batangas.

FPIP president Edwin Coseteng said in a briefing yesterday the expansion of the industrial park, which straddles the town of Santo Tomas and the city of Tanauan, is being undertaken amid growing interest from firms to set up operations in the country.

“In the past three years we’ve had a lot of interest, a lot of people visiting. I think the Philippines has moved up the rankings in many ways either in terms of fiscal position...perception of good governance, competitiveness. For all these reasons, I think the Philippines is becoming more noticeable as a place to do business either for BPO (business process outsourcing) or now mostly manufacturing,” he said.

He said the Philippines is also benefiting from the strategy being adopted by many global manufacturing firms to have facilities spread out in different locations to avoid supply disruptions.

The expansion of the FPIP is expected to increase the industrial park’s land area to 442 hectares from 350 hectares.

“Without  the expansion, FPIP will be hard-pressed to meet the growing foreign investor demand for more space,” Coseteng said, noting that of the 350 hectares, there is barely a hectare left.

For the additional 92 hectares to be made available to locators, he said they are already in talks with firms planning to set up operations.

By next month, the company expects to finalize a deal with Zama Philippines, a subsidiary of German power tools manufacturer Stihl, to occupy six hectares in the industrial park.

The company expects the additional 92 hectares to be taken up in the next three to five years.

Coseteng said even after the expansion project is completed, FPIP’s land area could still be increased with 100 hectares available to be developed.

Asked if there are plans to develop industrial parks outside of Luzon, he said the company would consider doing so given the opportunity.

FPIP’s expansion project has been designated a special economic zone by President Aquino through Presidential Proclamation No. 722 issued on February 14.

Following the proclamation, FPIP and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority signed a formal registration agreement covering fiscal and non-fiscal incentives FPIP and its locators could enjoy.

FPIP is a joint venture between FPH and Sumitomo Corp.

FPIP hosts 77 locators which include Brother, Canon, Honda, Murata, Nestle, Philip Morris, Shimano and Sunpower.

The industrial park’s locators have created over 40,000 jobs.