AN P813-million break-bulk terminal, which will soon rise in the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB), is helping to draw locators to Bataan, the chief of FAB said on Thursday.
The break-bulk terminal will be put up by the Seasia Nectar Port Services Inc. (Snpsi), a Filipino-British unit which will spend P813 million over the next three years. The amount is part of the P84-billion investment pledges hauled by Fab from January to October.
“[Snpsi’s] presence has allowed us to talk to other potential locators. A new steel company and a glass company would be aided by the logistics of this break-bulk port. There are potential investors coming in because of it,” Fab Chairman and Administrator Deogracias Custodio said in an interview.
Fab said, however, that it cannot disclose the names of firms that are keen on locating in Bataan Freeport.
Custodio said construction of the break-bulk terminal will start in January and will likely be completed in 2016.
He said the planned port can accommodate two Panamax vessels at the same time and features a 13-meter wide berth. It will be in the Bataan Shipyard and Engineering Co. Inc.’s (Baseco) property which is still within Fab.
Investment commitments in Fab jumped to P84 billion in January to October from P2.19 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The break-bulk terminal is part of the 17 new business projects that will be rolled out in FAB. Other new locators include a footwear manufacturer, a distillery, and business-process outsourcing and information technology-related firms.
Companies that have located in Fab include Grand Innovasia Concept Corp. (Gicc), Perpetual Prime Manufacturing Inc., German military boots manufacturer BFD, and footwear manufacturer Luen Thai. Gicc alone, Custodio said, will invest P1 billion over a five-year period.
The new investment commitments are expected to create 5,000 additional jobs.
As of June, Fab has 98 registered and approved locators which include foreign investors from South Korea, Taiwan, China, the US, Japan, Great Britain, Bahrain and France.
Fab is hopeful that it will attract more locators due to its competitive utilities and rental costs and the improvement of the port-congestion problem in Metro Manila.
Export earnings of locators in the Bataan Freeport slid by 13.33 percent to $348 million as of end-November due to port congestion.