Subic Bay Freeport Continues to Grow 

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has announced in their annual State of the Freeport address to the investor community that the Freeport continued to grow in 2009.  According to SBMA Chairman Feliciano Salonga the Freeport would continue to grow in 2010 and investment would grow to a total of $8 billion this year from $5.958 the year before. Subic Freeport has shown steady growth since 2004.  In 2004, the Freeport secured 571 registered investors.  This rose and in 2009 there was 1,232 investors in the zone, an increase of 116% in five years.  Additionally, the amount of total investment rose from $2.313 billion in 2004 to $5.958 billion in 2009, an increase of 155 percent. Job creation is a major target in the Philippines and SBMA has pushed this aspects of economic development firmly.  In 2005, the number of jobs in the active workforce employed at the Freeport totaled 58,952.  In 2009, it stood at 87, 226, a 53 percent increase during the period.  During the same period, exports grew from $586 million in 2005 to $1,079 billion in 2009.  Also from 2008 to 2009, visitor arrivals rose from 2.9 million in 2008 to 4.1 million in 2009.  In 2010, major project already committed include the $130-million project of Harbour Centre Port Terminals, the $200-million expansion of Mabuhay Satellite, the $800-million resort and commercial complexes of Subic Neo-cove and the $1.09-billion resort development project of MCastle, a Korean investor.  Read more about business in Philippines in our article: Investment in the Philippines: Time for a Second Look