SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—More investors from Taiwan will be coming to the Philippines because of the conducive business climate in the country, as well as the good relations between the two trading partners.
This was the confident outlook expressed by Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco) in the Philippines Representative Michael Peiyung Hsu and Taiwanese businessmen in Subic during the opening here last week of Yubantec, the latest Taiwanese company to locate in this free port.
Hsu remarked during the occasion that more companies from Taiwan will locate in the Philippines due to the fact that it is Taiwan’s “closest neighbor.”
He added, “I assure you, the Taiwanese are willing to come to the Philippines to invest because of the good trade relations [with the Philippines].”
Philippine authorities, he said, would “have to find enough land for our locators, especially in Subic Bay,” for the expected influx of Taiwanese companies.
Dr. Chin Der Ou, who is chairman of Subic Bay Development and Management Corp. Inc. (SBDMC), which manages the Taiwanese-owned Subic Gateway Park here, said the ongoing facilities improvement projects by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) portend better business in Subic.
“There are many facilities improvement projects now. There are road construction and repairs, drainage improvement, as well as capacity expansion of the Subic Expressway. These are all good for investors,” Dr. Ou said at the Yubantec inauguration.
“I’m confident that Yubantec will do well in such a favorable business environment,” he added.
Yubantec, which will engage in importing, designing, installing and after-sales services of air conditioners, cold storage equipment and home appliances, as well as designing and sales of semiconductors and electronic components, is the latest addition to the Subic Gateway park locators.
SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the 61 Taiwanese firms in Subic now comprise the third-biggest number of foreign investors here. Most are engaged in manufacturing and trading.
She said Taiwanese firms were among the pioneer investors in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, as the Subic Gateway Park, formerly known as the Subic Bay Industrial Park, was the first industrial park to be established in Subic.
Built in 1994, the Taiwanese-owned industrial park is now home to global names like computer giant Wistron Infocomm (Phils.) Corp., air-con specialist Johnson Controls-Hitachi, lockmaker Tong Lung (Phils.) Metal Industry, and footwear manufacturer Datian Subic Shoes Inc.
Eisma said the entry of more Taiwanese companies helps Subic drive its momentum in investment and employment generation, pointing out that the SBMA approved 77 new projects in the first six months this year, compared to 45 in the first half of 2018.
The new investments, as well as the 21 expansion projects green-lighted in the first half, are projected to create more than 3,600 additional jobs in the Subic Bay Freeport, she added.
Image credits: Henry Empeño