Vol. XXII, No. 170 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
BY JESSICA ANNE D. HERMOSA, Reporter
THE STATE AGENCY in charge of the Clark Freeport is looking to develop another 2,000 hectares to accommodate more investors, an official yesterday said.
CLARK Development Corp. claims the freeport is running out of space for locators, thus the plan to develop some 2,000 hectares at a cost of P11.3 billion.
The first five years, said Clark Development Corp. (CDC) Vice-President Ernesto S. Gorospe, will involve spending at least P700 million to lay down roads, drainage systems, and infrastructure in Sacobia Valley in Bamban, Tarlac.
The full 30-year development period, he added, will entail a total of P11.3 billion in expenses.
"There are less than 80 hectares left [that can be used] and I think this is the time to develop that portion of Clark," Mr. Gorospe said in a telephone interview yesterday.
"The land use of the area will be tourism, information technology, manufacturing and institutional meaning schools," he added, noting that there have been two inquiries from Taiwanese electronics makers already.
A Philippine Science High School campus will be built there as well, he claimed.
Firms in freeports and economic zones enjoy incentives such as a four-year tax holiday and a succeeding 5% tax on gross income.
Under Republic Act 9400 which was signed into law in March 2007, the 4,400-hectare former US airbase in Clark was declared a freeport to be managed by CDC. A contiguous 29-hectare area was declared a special economic zone under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
Later that year, CDC signed a joint management agreement with leaders of Aeta tribes and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to share profits from the development of a Clark subzone dubbed as the Next Frontier.
"The Next Frontier is a 10,684-hectare area of which 2,000 hectares are leasable. The rest is rolling and steep," Mr. Gorospe said.
CDC, he said, will be funding the resettlement of 10,000 Aetas to nearby "service clusters".
To speed up the area’s development, CDC will offer to suspend lease collections from firms which build their own infrastructure on the raw land, Mr. Gorospe said.
CDC has previously said it would allow Taiwanese locators to lease 300 hectares of raw land in the Next Frontier rent-free for three years and also deduct the cost of construction shouldered by these firms from future rent payments.
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