Chinese firms eye CEZA for 1160-B textile project

Chinese textile manufacturers from the Shaoxing prefecture in Zhejiang province of mainland China are investing in a textile and garment manufacturing and develop an industrial estate in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport (CSEZFP) with estimated combined investments of R160 billion.

Secretary Raul L. Lambino, administrator and CEO of Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), said a 24-company member delegation from the Shaoxing visited him recently for the planned textile investments in the country.

“The group met me when I was in Hangzhou. They want to transfer some of their factories here and they have selected CEZA as possible area they can invest in,” Lambino said. Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, is also the headquarters of Alibaba, the world’s largest ecommerce platform.

According to Lambino, the main industry in Shaoxing is textile and these textile companies are expanding their operations overseas.

“Thirty-five percent of the world’s consumption of textile whether it is clothing or carpets

are produced in Shaoxing,” he said. The group’s leader has visited the Philippines three times already since they met a month ago, he added.

Part of the Shaoxing group investments is to develop an industrial estate in the Cagayan ecozone. They are looking at a minimum of 300 hectares although they would like to develop 1,000 hectares total.

“That investment is going to be something like R160 billion or $3 billion,” he said.

Earlier, Lambino said that Korean and Chinese groups have expressed interest to develop 50-hectare industrial estate each for their respective steel manufacturing projects in the Cagayan ecozone.

“These are serious investors,” said Lambino.

The Korean Group, Fairbridge Overseas Development, plans to buy magnetite sand from local firm JDVC Resources Corporation.

CEZA and the Korean Group already signed a memorandum of understanding in Korea. They will also put up a power plant, a palletizing plant, and downstream manufacturing to include rebars and flat sheets with estimated investments of $500 million to $1 billion.

Similarly, the Chinese investors – Sangfeng Group – already met with Lambino for the second time last week together with former President Gloria MacapagalArroyo during an investment promotion event in Beijing.