By Iris Gonzales (The Philippine Star) |
Updated July 18, 2016 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Corp.
(SMC) is in talks with small, medium and big-ticket locators for its
2,000-hectare industrial estate in Davao, its top official said.
SMC president Ramon Ang said the company
is now in the process of finding the right mix to have a good balance of
locators for SMC Davao Industrial Estate.
“Many have signified their intentions.
We are now in the process of choosing which ones so as to create the right
balance. We don’t want it to be just from one industry. We are finalizing the
mix now,” Ang said.
Ang said he prefers to have small and
medium enterprises in the industrial estate to create more job opportunities in
the province.
For the bigger locators, Ang said the
company is in talks with a steel mill and a shipyard company.
“But we are also waiting for smaller
locators because if we have only heavy industries, there will only be a few but
if we put small and medium enterprises, we can have more,” Ang said.
Locators will enter into long-term lease
contracts with SMC, which manages the estate on behalf of farmer cooperatives.
The industrial estate is a project
approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), the state-owned
investment promotion agency.
It is expected to spur private
investments and help further boost the economy of Davao, Ang said.
The centerpiece of the investment would
be San Miguel subsidiary SMC Global Power Holdings Corp.’s brand new
600-megawatt power generation facility.
The power facility is seen to improve
power security in the Mindanao region and provide lower electricity rates to
the zone and beyond.
The industrial estate will also have an
international port with a depth of up to 20 meters, and a private airport with
a concrete runway, Ang said.
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