Clark-Subic port automation

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga: Clark Development Corp. (CDC) President Benny Ricafort said Thursday that the signing of the memorandum of agreement and joint memorandum order on Automated Transit and Admission Declaration Cargo for Subic and Clark Freeport zones would benefit both investors and the government.

Ricafort said the automation was a dream come true since it would facilitate the free flowing of goods based on international standards that would prevent smuggling and corruption.

Ricafort also noted that the automation was part of President Gloria Arroyos vision to make the two freeports as mega logistics hub in the Asia Pacific region.

Director Filas Chen of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office said now is the best time to attract more Taiwanese investors, adding Taiwan is ranked third among the countrys top investors after placing sixth two years ago.

The project aims to provide a more secure and reliable system for preventing smuggling and protecting government revenue, CDC officials said.

The automation is also directed to support audit-based risk management system for ensuring that transit foreign merchandise are safely conducted in a timely manner from the port of discharge to the Freeport zones.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator Armand Arreza said investors want to see that their goods are being handled in a timely manner.

This is the kind of service that they really expect and we want all procedures to be world-class, he added.

For his part, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said the automation would be implemented immediately and expected to enhance revenue collection.

The SBMA, CDC, and the Subic-Clark and Alliance for Development Council headed by Edgardo Pamintuan have agreed to establish the economic corridor that aims to integrate the two freeports and the Taiwan Export Processing Zones into one seamless economic zone. --Joey Aguilar - Manila Times

Freeport boosts RP's presence in Asian market

CLARK FREEPORT -- Secretary Edgardo Pamintuan of the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council (Scadc) said this freeport will play a crucial role in making the country's presence felt in the local and Asian markets.

Pamintuan said Clark would serve as the center of the Mega Logistics Hub that would bring opportunities in business and tourism.

"Basic and complex infrastructure are conveniently within the area of the freeport. The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) would be the links that would connect Clark to the rest of the country and Asia," he said.

The SCTEX ties up Subic with Clark paving the possible movement of manpower and spurring the efficient transfer of goods, according to him.

He said the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon (Calabarzon) markets could actually find Clark a possible consumption and distribution area for their local goods.

Pamintuan furthered that DMIA would also be the chief distributor of local goods to the Asian markets.

"The movement of goods would be of the least cost and fast with SCTEX and DMIA in place. We can further promote our presence in the Asian markets because we have real time saving in the delivery and distribution of our goods," he said.

Pamintuan added that they are working on the "master plan" of achieving the full potential of the Mega Logistics Hub with Clark Freeport and other important infrastructures acting as channels for the expected economic developments. SunStar

Scadc works for Subic-Clark corridor master plan

CLARK FREEPORT -- Secretary Edgardo Pamintuan of the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council (Scadc) said the council is working on the master plan of the Subic-Clark growth corridor.

Pamintuan issued the statement during a forum on the Scadc Mega Logistic Hub held at the Fontana Convention Center on Thursday.

According to Pamintuan, the Scad corridor will be the site for the Mega-Logistics Hub's primary and support industries like information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, packaging, eco-tourism, medicine and personal well-being, education, among others.

Pamintuan said the corridor will affect the economy of Pampanga, Zambales, Tarlac, and Bataan.

About 19 municipalities and four cities in these four provinces are expected to benefit from the growth.

The areas include Mabalacat, Magalang, Angeles City, Porac, City of San Fernando, Mexico and Floridablanca in Pampanga; Tarlac City, La Paz, Concepcion, Capas and Bamban in Tarlac; Dinalupihan, Hermosa and Morong in Bataan; and Olongapo City, Subic and Castillejos in Zambales.

Pamintuan also announced the construction of the 833-kilometer North Luzon Railways (NorthRail) which is divided into two sections - Caloocan to Malolos and Malolos to Clark.

The NorthRail will provide fast and efficient mass transport for people and goods to and from the business centers of Metro Manila, he said.

Pamintuan also cited other support infrastructure projects including the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), the expansion of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA), and the new container terminals at the Subic Bay Port, among others.

"The Scad Mega-Logistics Hub will utilize Subic Bay Port, DMIA, SCTEX, in order to provide a seamless and efficient flow of goods, people, and services between the point of origin and the point of consumption," he said.

One of the 10-point agenda of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is to develop Subic and Clark as the most competitive international services and logistics centers in the Asia-Pacific region, Pamintuan added.

By virtue of Executive Order (EO) 504-A, the President created the Scadc to accelerate the development of Subic and Clark.

Pamintuan however clarified that the Scadc is a policy-making body and not an implementing agency like the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Clark Development Corporation, and the Department of Trade and Industry, among others. By Reynaldo G. Navales - SunStar

Ricafort to succeed Laus as CDC chief

CLARK FREEPORT -- The lobbying by different sectors and power brokers on who should sit at the helm of Clark Development Corporation (CDC) seems to be finally over.

Long-time CDC director Benigno Ricafort is set to succeed CDC president Liberato Laus, who will formally relinquish his post by the end of this month.

This was announced last Thursday by Subic Clark Alliance for Development Council (Scadc) Secretary Edgardo Pamintuan before the start of the forum on the Scadc Mega Logistics Hub at the Fontana Convention Center here.

Laus informed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo about his intention to leave his post in a letter he submitted to Malacañang in May this year.

Laus cited as reason for leaving CDC his desire to go back to his business and steer his companies in the direction of the country's growing economy under the Arroyo administration.

Pamintuan said President Arroyo has chosen Ricafort based on his experience and understanding of the internal workings inside the Freeport Zone.

"His familiarity with the Freeport will greatly help in the way he will lead and how he would be making his decisions," Pamintuan added.

Ricafort, who is among the old-time CDC directors, has been serving the state-owned corporation for 15 years under its seven presidents. As director, he had continuous liaison with the Bases Conservation and Development Authority (BCDA) and had active participation in overseas and local investments and promotion for Clark.

Ricafort said he will try to put a "stronger community image" for this Freeport.

"We will be looking at our corporate responsibility towards our immediate community. Within Clark, we are looking on the Sub Zone as the next area for future development here," he said.

Ricafort also hailed the efforts and achievements of Laus.

"He (Laus) did a good job and has left his own mark at CDC. The challenges that we will face now would be different from his," Ricafort added.

Laus reportedly favors Ricafort to succeed him to ensure the continuity of his programs for the Freeport.

Educated in the field of business and economics, Ricafort received his Bachelor of Science, Major in Finance at the San Beda College and his Master of Business Administration at St. John's University in New York. He also completed advanced courses on international trade in Germany, Japan and the Netherlands.

As a community servant, Ricafort figured prominently as the president of the Kapampangan Development Foundation (KDF), an organization of Kapampangans based outside of the province. He pioneered social works like the Walking Free Pampanga with the mission of making the province's amputees mobile again. KDF has also launched various social services missions targeting Kapampangan indigents. Activities of the organization are mostly composite efforts of other organizations through his vast networks.

Ricafort is set to take the helm of CDC as its eighth president. SunStar

CIAC transfered to BCDA

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has transferred the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), which operates the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) from the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) as its new subsidiary.

Arroyo, in issuing Executive Order (EO) 716, also transferred the ownership and corresponding dividends from the operation of the CIAC to BCDA. The CIAC was initially created through EO 193, series of 2003, as a CDC subsidiary to operate and manage the 2,200-hectare Clark Civil Aviation Complex (CCAC), including the DMIA, with its 50-year franchise.

The EO, however, transferred the operation and management of the Clark Civil Aviation Complex (CCAC), which is comprised of 2,200 hectare property, to the BCDA.

"There is a need to transform CIAC into a subsidiary of BCDA to ensure that the development of the CCAC-DMIA is aligned to the conversion program of the BCDA," she said adding that the CIAC shall still be subject to the policy supervision of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

With the transfer, the CIAC shall now have the sole supervision in the operations relating to aviation, aviation-related services, aviation-related logistic, as well as lease and business arrangements pertaining to the said services and activities.

The EO likewise directed the clarification and distinction of the functions and jurisdictions between the CIAC and the CDC "in order to create synergy between the two corporations."

It stated that despite CIAC's transfer, the CDC shall remain the implementing arm of the BCDA within the Clark Freeport Zone (CFZ) and the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ).

As this developed, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye announced that the President has also strengthened the two-year-old Subic-Clark Alliance for Development (Scad) Council "as the single body that will harmonize the strategies of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ) and CSEZ after issuing EO 504-A which amended EO 504, series of 2006, that created the Council.

Bunye said under EO 504-A, Scad would facilitate "an integrated and coordinated approach to the development of the Scad corridor as a world-class mega-logistics hub and a global gateway to the Asia Pacific Region."

The EO directed Scad to prioritize the formulation of policies and programs to develop Subic, Clark, and the corridor in between them as a globally competitive mega-logistics hub; to formulate common investment promotions activities and harmonize in the SBFZ and CFZ programs, policies, rules and regulations affecting investments, incentives, customs, immigration, leasing, privatization, among others.

The agencies placed under the Scad Council's supervision include the BCDA, CDC, CIAc and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). (JMR/Sunnex)

Gov’t to develop Subic-Clark corridor into economic hub

Darwin Amojelar – Manila Times

The government will craft a long-term masterplan to develop the areas in the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) into an economic and Development Authority said.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA Chief Augusto B. Santos said the government plans to spend about $2.5 million for the masterplan to develop the areas spanning 50.5 kilometers within Subic and Clark Expressway.

Santos said the masterplan for the Subic-Clark corridor to be implemented by the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council (SCADC) may take two years to complete with funding from government or foreign donors.

“For that kind of developments we have foreign experience,” he said adding the estimated cost would depend in the result of the bidding for the project.

Santos said the government targets to generate an estimated investment of P400 billion in the development of the Subic-Clark corridor.

He said core of the masterplan s to develop an export processing zone and industrial park with residential, retail and commercial components. “We want it [Subic-Clark Corridor] to be a self-contained community,” he said.

The SCTEX is a 93.77 kilometer, four-lane expressway that runs from the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales to the Central Techno Park in Tarlac City, Tarlac. It runs through the interchange with North Luzon Expressway (NLex) near the Clark Special Economic Zone in Angeles City, Pampanga.

The road is intended to provide an alternative route and shorter travel time leading to the two economics zones.

The P27.40-billion project started in April 2005 and was completed this month. The SCTEX is a flagship project of the Arroyo administration intended to transform Central and Northern Luzon into a super region. It is expected to create wider opportunities for investment, trade and employment in Central Luzon and adjoining regions.