SBMA reported record investment commitments in Jan-July

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority has approved P111.5 billion worth of investment commitments in the first seven months of the year, generating its biggest turnout yet since the free port was established in 1992.

The value of these pledges surpassed the P18.5 billion recorded  by SBMA in 2015. It was also more than the total value of investments approved by the agency from 2012 to 2015, which stood at P47.9 billion, the SBMA said in a statement Wednesday.

According to the SBMA, the biggest investment commitment in Subic this year came from Australasia Cold Storage Logistics and AIA Airways Co. Inc. worth P70.5 billion.

The logistics investment project will involve transporting agricultural products from Australia, mostly meat and seafood, for repackaging in Subic and, eventually, for reexport  to the company’s customers worldwide, the SBMA said.

Also part of the project was the establishment of an intermodal cargo terminal and the use of both airport and seaport with an expected turnout of about 60 containers a month for the Subic port.

Another significant new investment, the SBMA said, was the solar and industrial estate project of Dynamic Konstruk Enterprises, which had committed to invest P34 billion in a project that was expected to create 40,000 to 50,000 new jobs.

According to the state agency, the proposed industrial estate project would include the development of a 200-megawatt (MW) solar plant;  construction of warehouses and logistics facilities, and the establishment of factories in a 400-hectare area in the Redondo Peninsula, near the site of the Hanjin shipyard in Subic.

Once on stream, the two new projects and other approved new investments are expected to create a total of 54,973 new jobs at the Subic Free Port, which traditionally sources its manpower requirements of its locators from Olongapo City, Bataan and Zambales; as well as from Pampanga, Tarlac and other nearby areas.