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SUBIC
BAY FREEPORT—The $57-million expansion program for the
Subic Bay Industrial Park (SBIP) here is now attracting
more investors from Taiwan, particularly those engaged
in export manufacturing, research and development.
Last
week Taiwan officials and businessmen, led by Export
Processing Zone Administration (Epza) director general
Tseng Sheng Bao and Gongin Precision Industrial Co. Ltd.
president Daniel Y.S. Su, expressed intentions to put up
projects in
Subic during a visit here to check out business opportunities and
scout for suitable factory sites.
The
Taiwanese businessmen are eyeing investments of up to $5
million in the next three years to cover core
operations, including high-precision plating, surface
treatment, high-precision stamping and injection forming
mold for clients in the aerospace, opto-electronics,
automation and semiconductor industries.
In
particular, Gongin, a major player in Taiwan’s machinery
and equipment industry, is looking to set up a 6,000-
sq-m factory similar to its facilities operated by its
subsidiaries in
Suzhou
and Shanghai, both in China.
Su said
the company expects to hire 30 to 50 skilled machinists
and mechanical engineers to leverage on the competencies
of local workers in English and technical skills.
Tseng,
who was briefed by Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA)
administrator Armand Arreza and Subic Bay Development
and Management Corp. (SBDMC) president Jeff Lin, said
his group was impressed with the industrial development
in Subic today.
“Having
been given a clear picture of the business climate in
the Subic Bay Freeport, we now have a better knowledge
of what businesses thrive here and what industries to
bring in,” Tseng said.
Tseng
was accompanied in the
Subic visit by
his deputy, Jerry K.H. Chen, Epza Taiwan senior
specialist Shih-Tsung Chi, Epza officer Charlotte Hsueh
and Gongin assistant general manager Senog Hsueh,
special assistants Victor Chen and Jih Tai Chu, Emtal
Industries Research Development Center chairman Tsai
Chien-Hsing and his assistant Chen Tsung-Bao.
Arreza
assured Tseng and company that Taiwanese investors in
Subic are doing quite well because of the free port’s
comparative edge in location, business climate and
worker skills, as well as the presence of large
multinational firms from the United States, Japan and
Korea that are into the semiconductor business,
international shipping, and airline repair and
maintenance.
Gongin
could serve as a primary and support infrastructure base
for all types of manufacturing investments found in the
Subic Bay Freeport, Arreza added.
Subic is
now home to some 85 Taiwanese companies with committed
investments totaling more than $500 million. Some 36 of
these firms, including computer maker Wistron GBC and
appliance manufacturer Hitachi, are located in SBIP,
which is managed by the SBDMC.
According to SBDMC’s Lin, his firm is investing $57
million for a two-phase expansion of SBIP to accommodate
more investors, particularly those engaged in software
development and IT-related businesses.
The
first phase, costing $12 million, starts next year and
will involve 50 hectares in Subic. The next phase,
budgeted at $45 million, targets another 150 hectares
and will start in 2009.
Lin
said, however, that for the second phase of expansion
the SBDMC may look for areas in the nearby Clark
Freeport because of limited flatlands in Subic.
Gongin,
which manufactures and sells various molds, special
machinery, electronic components and molds of airplane
engines, apparently fits into SBDMC’s expansion plan.
According to
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, Gongin would be an
ideal anchor tenant in the
Philippines because of the scale of its operations, as
well as the importance of its products to investments in
food, precision equipment, packaging and semiconductors.
Founded
in Kaoshiung in 1978, Gongin now employs 640 workers,
and exports its products to Asia, the United States and
other countries, with recorded sales of $738.47 million
in 2006. |
