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Total investment pledges at the Subic Freeport increased by more
than a half in the first five months compared with the same period
last year, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) top official
said Wednesday.
Armand Arreza, SBMA administrator and chief
executive officer, said a total of 85 new projects with investment
commitments worth $210 million (around P9.32 billion) were approved
at the Freeport from January to May this year.
He said the new projects open opportunities for
3,454 people looking for work.
He said 94 percent of these commitments, or a
total of $199 million, were foreign direct investments or FDIs.
The total number of new projects approved by the
SBMA board in the first five months of the year was higher by 52
percent than the 56 business ventures approved in the same period
last year.
Korean firms continue to provide the biggest
investments pouring into Subic recently, with shipbuilder Hanjin
Heavy Industries Corp. Philippines putting up a total of $1.6
billion in the last two years.
For the January to May 2008 period, the list of
ten biggest investors here was also topped by a Korean firm, Subic
Neocove Corp., with $175.2-million budget.
The second and third biggest projects in the
same period were also proposed by Korean companies—the Hanil
E&C Subic Inc., which pledged $11 million for the development
and construction of medium to high-rise commercial residential
buildings, and Hanafil Golf & Tour Inc., with initial
commitments of $3 million for the redevelopment of the 18-hole Subic
golf course.
Other new investments in the top 10 are:
Palmgold Int’l Ltd., with committed investments of $1.94 million;
Grand Pillar International Development Inc., with $1.9 million; Buma
Subic Development & Management Corp., with $1.5 million; World
HDGD Federation Philippine Association, with $1.22 million; Philkor
Utopia Corp., with $1.2 million; Janburlai Corp., M. Waseem
International Corp., and Ta Zon (Phils.) Color Paper Corp., all with
$800,000; and Kumboindustry Corporation, with $725,000.
-- Katrina Mennen A. Valdez
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