SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has approved the development of a 982-hectare industrial estate that will host manufacturing companies, light to heavy industries, as well as a solar farm.
SBMA Chair Martin Diño and SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma announced the approval of the $798-million project in their state of the freeport address on April 24.
The project was proposed by Dynamic Konstruct International Eco Builders Corp. (DKIEBC), a locator inside the freeport. The solar farm and industrial city will be built at Redondo Peninsula.
“This project is our answer to the inquiry of investors looking for thousands of hectares of flat land for manufacturing and light to heavy industries inside the Subic Bay Freeport,” Diño said.
SBMA has asked neighboring towns in Zambales province to identify more areas suitable for the development of industrial estates that could tap the free port’s tax and duty-free regime.
Eisma said the proposed solar farm and industrial city were expected to generate 50,000 jobs.
“When the Subic naval base closed down in 1992, we were all so depressed to be losing the 35,000 jobs generated by the US Navy,” Eisma said. “But under the SBMA, we have long surpassed those numbers. As of February 2017, our active workforce within the free port was 115,272 [employees]—and we keep on working to bring about more employment.”
Out of the $798-million investment commitment, DKIEBC would be spending $300 million for the proposed 402-ha solar farm, designed to produce 200 megawatts of green energy.