SBMA inks P275-M new investments

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Ten companies, with combined investments of P275 million, were the latest investors to sign up with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) recently as the premier freeport zone gears up to maintain its lead in attracting investments.

SBMA chairman Feliciano Salonga led the mass contract signing held over the weekend for the 10 new investors which proposed projects in electronic manufacturing, steel fabrication, estate development, language school and expansion of existing retirement village.

SBMA administrator Armand Arreza said with the entry of SBMA’s newest "partners", the Subic Freeport now has a total of 684 registered enterprises.

"2006 is going to be a banner year for SBMA as we have accounted for 81 percent of the total investments generated in the entire country in the first quarter. By the end of the year, we are projecting to generate $1.8 billion," Arreza told The STAR.

He added that the SBMA is expecting several more companies to come and invest in Subic, particularly suppliers for the $1-billion shipbuilding facilities of Korea’s Hanjin.

"Subic Freeport is now having a very exciting time with the plan of the Arroyo administration to develop super-regions in the country. We are sure that Subic will play a major role in the development of the Metro Luzon Beltway," Arreza said.

Salonga assured the new investors that the SBMA will do what it can to promote their investments in the freeport. "The SBMA will do its very best to ensure that you become profitable."

SBMA business and investment manager Ronnie Yambao said the new set of investors was led by four Taiwanese investors locating at the 300-hectare Subic Bay Industrial Park (SBIP). The Taiwanese firms were presented by Subic Bay Development and Management Corp. Inc. (SBDMC) president Jeff Lin.

Lin said that the SBIP "remains as the most attractive industrial estate inside the freeport zone, particularly for Taiwanese investors."

The new Taiwanese investors are Sapphire Instruments Subic Bay, which will operate an engineering center for research and development; Taiming International Trading, which will set up a logistics warehousing of general merchandise; Topwin Stone Subic, which will process granite and marble stone; and Wise Center (Phils.) Precision Appliances, which will assemble and trade garden tools, hardware and plastic products.

Mayer Steel Pipe Corp. also signed a long-term lease contract for a $3-million project to manufacture and supply fabricated steel pipes for the shipbuilding facilities of Hanjin in Subic’s Redondo Peninsula.

The other new companies include Amires Corp., which will construct and sublease buildings for commercial and light manufacturing; Delta Production Phils. Corp., which will manufacture aluminum scaffoldings and rent out machineries for ship repair; Japanese electronics manufacturer Mechatro Inc., which will set up a plant to produce three-dimension computer designs for industrial machineries and parts; and Korean firm Sky English Fluency Inc., which will put up a non-formal English language center for Koreans.