By Othel V. Campos | Mar. 03, 2014 at
12:01am [ manilastandardtoday.com ]
The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority
plans to attract as much as P23 billion in new investments in the Subic Bay
free port this year to create new jobs and achieve inclusive growth.
A report by SBMA president and
administrator Roberto Garcia showed the agency would maximize the utilization
of new container ports to decongest Manila ports and ease vehicular traffic.
It plans to launch a creative tourism
campaign and host more events to attract
tourists and visitors to the free port.
Broader plans involve the
implementation of a major reorganization that can more effectively achieve the
agency’s strategic initiatives and deliver better service to locators and
residents by simplifying business
processes such as the automatic renewal of new certificate of
registration and tax exemption.
The agency said it would implement the
long-delayed salary increases of all employees and intensify the good
governance program.
Garcia said the 2014 plan was backed
by a substantial increase in capital expenditures to P620 million from just P9
million in 2013.
In 2013, approved investments inside
the Freeport soared 800 percent toP27 billion from only P3 billion during the
previous year.
Cumulative investments in Subic from
1992 to 2012 reached $9.4 billion. Employment also rose in 2013 to 4,402
employees from 2,597 in 2012.
The SBMA posted a net income of P1.07
billion in 2013, up 35 percent from P800 million in 2012.
The top new investments in 2013 were
Resom Resort, P21.37 billion; PTT Philippines Trading Corp., P1.9 billion; FFC
Subic Seafoods Corp., P848.92 million; Johanna-Subic Seafood Corp., P795.57
million; Glowbal Outlets Philippines Inc., P212.23 million; Simon & Stanley
International Trading & Development. Co. Inc., P215.62 million; APG
International Aviation Academy Inc., P135.46 million; Alpha Primero Services
Manufacturing Inc., P84.68 million; Associated Freight Consolidators, P83.13
million; and Platinum Skies Aviation Inc., P80 million.
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