By Ding Cervantes
Saturday, November 8, 2008 [ philstar.com ]
CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga — State-run Clark Development Corp. (CDC) expressed confidence at least P14 billion worth of fresh investments will pour into the freeport in the next five years.
The projected investments were the commitments made by 55 businesses which signed agreements with the CDC in the past 10 months. Their entry into the freeport would bring to 781 the total number of investments in Clark, said a report of the CDC’s marketing department.
The report submitted to CDC president and chief executive officer Benigno Ricafort noted that the biggest committed projects involve 10 tourism ventures worth a combined P9.2 billion.
It said 33 new information technology projects are to infuse some P2.18 billion new investments in the next five years. The fresh investments are expected to create some 13,000 new jobs.
CDC assistant vice president for investment and promotions Bernardo Angeles Jr. said in this year alone, about P10 billion are expected to be invested in the freeport, as he noted that this would be much more than the P5 billion to P6 billion worth investments generated in 2007 and P3 billion in 2006.
Angeles attributed the continued growth of investments to Clark’s “biggest competitive edge” which he identified as the “capacity for fast turnaround time, as this would cut down on costs when shipping.”
“We also brought down the cost of power giving us the cheapest rates in Luzon,” he added. Total investments in the freeport have reached over P30.51 billion as of last year, he noted.
CDC also said existing locators have expanded their businesses, infusing some P5 billion more. “The locators are looking forward to the construction of a 1,000-room hotel, an 18-hole golf course and several luxury villas,” Angeles said.
Among last year’s top investors was Texas Instruments whose facility under construction would cost around $1 billion. Another locator infused P1 billion for a 250-room hotel, P1 billion for a convention center, a high-end villa worth P500 million and a high-end spa worth P100 million.
Angeles said CDC is upgrading various infrastructure to entice fresh investments, even as it continues to coordinate with universities in Central Luzon for job-matching initiatives to fill in the manpower needs of the investors and thus create more jobs for local folk.
