SBMA plans to develop Smart City, Green Zone
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is set to develop a Smart City that is expected to spur investments and international trade in the country.
SBMA Chairman Martin Dino said in a statement that the Smart City will be developed in the Redondo Peninsula in Zambales where the shipyard of Hanjin Philippines, the world’s fourth biggest shipbuilding facility, is located.
The SBMA proposes to convert 3,000 hectares of the narrow 15-km long rugged peninsula into a new industrial park he designated as Subic 2.
“This would become Subic’s Smart City – an exclusive enclave of modern high-tech corporations and a hub for scientific development and innovation. No other site in the country could match its advantage in location and accessibility,” Dino said ina statement.
In addition, SBMA plans to build Subic 3 in Morong, Bataan “Green Zone”.
The Green Zone would be home to non-tech industries and a Mecca for commercial, financial investment and academic locators.
“We want to take Subic Bay Freeport to the next level of development. In line with President Duterte’s partnership for growth, Subic will continue to be a major contributor to the economic growth, countryside development and called national progress,” Dino said.
Dino’s other plans include upgrading the Subic Bay International Airport to become regional logistics transshipment hub and air terminal for tourists, guests, investors and junket operators for tourism-and-entertainment related events.
With the “Smart City” and “Green Zone” as centerpieces of our economic vision, Subic would become one of the most exciting locations for businesses not only in the Philippines but all of Southeast Asia, and maybe Asia and the Pacific, Dino stressed. Subic earlier recorded R111.5 billion worth of investments for first three quarters of the year. These investments have the potential to create 55,000 new jobs.
To date, it has a combined investment of some $102.8 billion brought in by some 1,700 business locators, both foreign and local that provided jobs for 109,000 workers, since the former US naval base was turned into a special economic zone through Republic Act No. 7227.