[ manilastandardtoday.com ] July 9-10, 2010
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—A resort project proposed by Korean property developer M Castle Philippines Ltd. Co. has raised foreign direct investments pledges here to $1.11 billion in the first half of the year.
The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority said the South Korean company had committed to invest $350,000 after signing as a Subic-registered business in January and pledged $1 billion on May 7 for its ambitious resort project.
M Castle’s entry into the Subic Freeport “greatly boosted Subic’s [investment] generation this year,” said SBMA administrator and chief executive Armand Arreza.
Prior to the approval of M Castle’s project, investment pledges in the free port stood at $114.58 million in the first six months.
The SBMA said the new investments were expected to generate employment of 6,833.
Arreza said M Castle would develop a 615-hectare property at nearby Morong, Bataan province. The project, called Resom Resort City-Subic, includes the development of an integrated world-class recreational leisure resort featuring beach condo units and villas, a five-star casino-hotel, a marina club and 36-hole golf course.
The Korean developer plans to establish within the complex a water park, a convention facility, a medical center, a shopping mall and an English-language learning center.
“This is another billion-dollar project from a Korean firm, and just like shipbuilder Hanjin, we expect M Castle to usher in more investments in related industries and businesses,” Arreza said.
Arreza said the proposed project would also spearhead SBMA’s push toward the development of nearby communities into expansion areas for both tourism and commercial ventures.
M Castle topped the list of the biggest projects in the Subic Bay Freeport in the first half of the year.
________________________________________________________________
