Bataan Freeport investments surged to more than P84B

STOCK PHOTO COURTESY OF PORTCALLS.COM

MANILA – The Authority of Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) has approved investment pledges of more than P84 billion in the first 10 months of 2014, up by 38.20 times compared from the P2.2 billion in 2013, paving the way for the port to be a hub for fashion manufacturing.

The said amount of investment came from 17 new business projects including a business process outsourcing (BPO) facility and information technology companies; footwear manufacturing company; distillery business; and a bulk terminal operation.

To date, AFAB said that the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) already has 19,379 workers from 17,490 workers last year. Once these projects are finished, these will pave way to 5,000 jobs, according to AFAB.

Some of the companies in FAB include BPO firm Grand Innovasia Concept Corp. (GICC), Perpetual Prime Manufacturing Inc. (PPMI), and Seasia Nectar Port Services Inc. (SNPSI).

Meanwhile, because of the port congestion in Manila, export earnings of businesses in FAB decreased by 13 percent to 8.

98 as of November 27 from the $402 million in 2013.

As of June this year, there were 98 registered and approved businesses in the FAB.

These came from various countries which include Korea, Taiwan China, United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Bahrain, France and Germany.

The FAB is deemed to be the emerging fashion manufacturing hub of the country because of its roster of businesses in the area which are concentrated in producing high-end bands of apparel, shoes, and accessories including bags and jewelry. Its vision is to be the Freeport of choice in the country by 2020.