Subic free port approves $58M in leisure, logistics investments

SUBIC FREE Port — Nearly $58 million worth of new investments in leisure, logistics, and other sectors have been approved by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), officials announced last week.

Officials formally signed in 17 new projects by foreign and Filipino investors last week. These included six new projects in the leisure industry worth a total of $53.59 million, three in manufacturing and maritime with a total investments of $1.3 million, three in general business at a total of $266,274, and five in logistics with a total of $2.57 million.

In August, 65 new accounts were added to the SBMA’s list of investors, which totaled 948 at the end of 2008. Most of the 17 new deals involved new business locators, while a few were existing firms that had opted to expand.

The biggest investment commitments in this latest batch of approved projects is the P2.5-billion (about $50 million) project by Ocean Nine Philkor, Inc., a South Korean firm involved in the development and operation of hotels, casinos and resorts.

The firm, under its short-term plan, will be renovating a hotel complex in Subic’s Cubi area to start hotel and casino operations by January 2010, Ocean Nine manager Charles Kim said during the contract-signing ceremony.

The second-biggest project in this batch is a new, four-storey hotel and expansion of a restaurant worth P70 million by Innasia Corp., which operates the Courtyard Inn in the free port. This was followed by the P50-million expansion of Puregold Duty Free (Subic) Corp., and the $1-million project of Lionair Subic Philippines, Inc. for the maintenance of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

Other investors in the leisure sector are: Aggressive North Developers, Inc., with P30 million for hotel and restaurant operations; Goltongne Subic Corp., $368,333 for a restaurant and gift shop; and LG Digital Plaza, Inc., P11.25 million for an Ilonggo restaurant, wholesale and retail operations, and import/export services.

In the manufacturing sector, the new projects include: Consummare, Inc., with $562,478 for the production of specialty wood products; Pacific Metal Works Corp. for steel fabrication; and Shang Min Construction Corp., $580,000 for the trading of construction-related materials and equipment. Under general business, the new locators are: Golden AI Trucking, with committed investments of $215,074; I Will Communicate, Inc., $30,000; and M&M Subic Bay Development Corp., $21,200.

New investments approved under the logistics sector are: Food Entrepreneur and Exporters of the Phils., with $470,000 for trading in grains and meat products; Omni Aviation Corp., $700,000; Solutions Advancing Global Enterprise International Import-Export Corp., $300,000; and Subic Bay Merlion Trading, Inc., with P5 million for the transshipment of wines and liquors. — by Rey Garcia - BusinessWorld