FAB on its way to become the country’s top freeport

MANILA, Philippines–The Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) is again poised to become the fastest-growing freeport in the country this year on the back of a continuing surge in foreign direct investments and in the number of locators operating within the zone.

“Since the Authority of Freeport Area of Bataan (Afab) took over operations from the Bataan Export Processing Zone, it was able to increase the number of locators by nearly 236 percent, from 39 in 2010 to 92 in August this year. The Afab is also luring more foreign investments,” said Afab chairman and administrator Deogracias G.P. Custodio.

Due to the sudden surge in foreign direct investments, the FAB has been recognized as the fastest-growing freeport in the country by the National Statistics Coordination Board in 2012 and 2013.

In the first half of this year alone, the FAB generated nearly P84 billion worth of investments—way higher than the P60.5 million worth of investment pledges recorded in the same period last year.

With the continuous increase in local and foreign investments, thousands of jobs were also opened at the freeport. From the 12,777 freeport employees in 2010, the year when the Afab took over operations of the freeport, the employment data rose to 18,543 in August this year.

“This record high investment pledges and noteworthy recognition proved that the authority works hard to contribute to the growth of the local economy and generate more jobs for the people on the ground,” Custodio said.