CLARK FREEPORT— A group representing Korean business- people operating in Cen-tral Luzon said its members have invested billions of pesos in businesses they operate in the region.
About 90 percent of the amount has been invested in the province of Pampanga.
The Korean Community Association Central Luzon Inc. (Kcacli) said its members have established and are operating more than 300 business establishments in the region.
Kcacli President Kim Ki-young said the two “most prominent” Korean-owned companies in Central Luzon are both based in this free port.
Kim was recently interviewed in his office in Angeles City through an interpreter, Kcacli Vice President Kim Tae-young.
“The majority of the 300 companies are Korean restaurants and stores. We employ more than 5,000 local workers,” Kim said. He said there are between 15,000 and 20,000 Koreans in Central Luzon at any given time. Most are based in Angeles City, this free port and other towns and cities in Pampanga.
The Friendship Highway in Angeles City, which is near the Friendship Gate of Clark, is peppered with Korean restaurants and shops.
“With our huge investments, we appeal for a peaceful and productive coexistence with our host communities,” said Kim, citing the recent murder of a Korean hotel owner in Angeles City and the alleged extortions and robberies on Korean businessmen and tourists.
Phoenix Semiconductor Philippines Corp. (PSPC) has infused at least $1.117 billion, the latest data from the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) Communications Department showed. It has 1,652 workers, added the report released on February 11.
PSPC mainly supplies dynamic random-access memory to global technology giant Samsung, a South Korean multinational conglomerate which dominates the worldwide sales of smartphones.
PSPC is one of the top 3 exporters in Clark.
Kim also cited the investments of the Donggwang Clark Corp. (DCC), the operator of the Clark Sunvalley Golf and Country Club and the Clark Ode County. DCC’s 18-hole Sun and Valley Course and the 18-hole Clark Course lie on land with an average altitude of 370 meters above sea level and in a 203-hectare area in Clark.
CDC said DCC’s investments in a 304-hectare property amounted to at least P3.5 billion. It has 700 workers at Sun Valley and 75 employees at Ode Country.
DCC’s upcoming project is the Hilton Hotel, CDC said. The hotel’s target date of completion is in two years and 100 additional villas will be finished by 2017. The Sun Valley golf course has one clubhouse and 10 villas.
Owners of the Xenia Hotel, a sublessee of DCC, invested nearly $200 million. It is also operated by
Korean investors.
Xenia boasts of 200 premium and well-appointed facility rooms. It is on Claro M. Recto Highway and is about 10 kilometers away from the Sun Valley golf course and 3 kilometers from the Clark International Airport.
Son Bong-sam, president of Xenia Hotel Corp., said: “Strongly recognized as one of the most strategic international gateways in the country, Clark Freeport Zone has been positively affecting both local and international and business tourism.” The hotel opened in May 2015.
“The CDC management, headed by President Arthur Tugade, acknowledges the immense contributions of foreign investors like Korean companies to the local and national economies. They help create livelihood, thus, helping a lot of people attain a degree of an assured future with the jobs they get in Clark,” said Noel Tulabut, CDC Communications Department head.
In a statement released late last year, CDC said there are nearly 100 Korean companies inside the free port.
Some of the prominent Korean companies in Clark are the Widus Hotel and Casino, Somang Global Clark and Sambon P&E Philippines Inc.
Mabalacat City tourism chief Guy Hilbero, whose office is in Clark, said, “the entry of giant firms, such as Donggwang and PSPC, in Clark convinced other Koreans to also invest in the free port.”
The main zone of Clark is about 4,400 hectares, most of which are part of Mabalacat.
“If Donggwang and PSPC invested billions of pesos, those with lesser capital will certainly locate in Clark due to its viability and great ambiance for business,” Hilberto said. On February 4 a South Korean furniture manufacturer announced the expansion of its operations, infusing an estimated P50 million within a year on a 9,314-square-meter project in Clark.
Tugade and Punta Design Inc. (PDI) President and Chief Executive Officer Byung-mo Lee recently signed the lease agreement. PDI has been a registered sublessee locator in Clark since 2014. The company is engaged in the manufacture and design of furniture and related accessories.
The target operations of the expansion project will be September 2016, and is expected to employ about 100 workers. “The company also envisions to revolutionize the rattan industry by using new machinery and system for small-scale furniture manufacturing,” CDC said.