Vol. XXII, No. 108 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
GOVERNMENT plans to set up a textile hub here for foreign garment firms are progressing, as up to 20 hectares in Clark Freeport have already been identified for potential locators, the state agency managing the freeport said yesterday.
The proposed "garment and textile town" is expected to provide tax breaks and other incentives to lure firms in China and Vietnam to locate here instead, Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila had said earlier.
"Philexcel [Business Park Inc., a developer at the freeport] has designated an area that can be the location. It is anywhere between 10 to 20 hectares," Clark Development Corp. Vice-President Ernesto S. Gorospe said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Ian G. Packham, Philexcel general manager, was not immediately available to comment.
Master plan
The project’s master plan, meanwhile, will be finalized by next year, Mr. Gorospe said without elaborating.
He confirmed that locators there will receive freeport incentives such as a lower corporate income tax rate.
In a related development, P&C, a Korean medical equipment part manufacturer, will be investing P70 million into the freeport to put up a 8,000-square meter factory.
The factory will start operations in the last quarter of 2009 and hire up to 45 workers, Mr. Gorospe said. — J. A. D. Hermosa
