SBMA okays $13.2 – M new investments in January-February

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has approved 30 new investments projects in the first two months of 2008, translating to $13.2 M worth of additional investments at the Freeport.

SBMA Administrator and CEO Armand Arreza said ten new projects worth of $6.2 M were in January, and 20 other investments proposal worth of $6.1 M the following month. This brings to 961 the total number of investor in Subic.

Among the new projects, Hanafil Golf & Tour, Inc., a South Korean-owned firm which plans to develop a gold and other recreational facility, registered the biggest commitments at $3 M.

Hanafil & Tour, Inc.’s investments at the free port will translate to the employment of some 1,495 workers, SBMA’s Business and Investment Department.

The next biggest new investor are Malaysian firm Palm gold Int’l Ltd., which commited $1.9 million for the importation of gaming equipments and operation of st machine arcade, and Grand Pillar International Development, Inc., which will also invest $1.9 million to acquire in improve real estate properties in the Subic ay Freeport.

The other new investor-firms sharing the top ten lists are Filipino-owned Janburlai Corp. and M. Waseem International Corp. and of Pakistan, which both pledged $800,000; Transequip Co. Ltd. with $725,000; Wonjun International Corp. with $468,000, Builenc Phil Co., with $391,000; Ringsthree Inc. with $220,000;and Mini Melts Ice Cream Dream Corporation, and Gaon International, Inc., which both committed $200,000.

“Given this growing investment trend that started two years ago, when Subic breached the $1-billion yearend total, chances are we’d get a higher investment output for the third succeeding year,” Arreza said.

New investments in Subic reached $1.42 billion and $1.67 billion in 2006 and 2007, respectively.last year’s figure represented an increase of 17 percent over the pervious year.

Similarly, job opportunities in Subic are increasing with the new investment inflows, the SBMA said, with the new project approved in January and February expected to contribute total of 1,887 new jobs.

Last year, the new investment project brought the number of Subic’s workforce to 74,181 by December 2007, up by 17 percent over the 2006 total of 63,485.

The SBMA Labor Department, however, recently reported a slight drop in the number of Subic’s active workforce due to “end of contract” cases. It said that Subic’s active workforce stood at 73,933 in February or 0.33 percent lower than the December 2007 total. (AMM)