Subic corners

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) approved 45 new investment projects worth R 2.85 billion in the first half of this year.

According to SBMA Chairman Wilma T. Eisma, the total investment pledges in the first semester of 2018 is 290 percent higher than the R731 million generated in the same period last year.

These projects are also expected to generate 2,439 new jobs in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, she added.

“This is a significant harvest of business commitments and opportunities for Subic, and it only goes to show that this free port remains to be one of the strongest economic drivers in the country today,” Eisma said.

“It also goes to show that businesses continue to grow in Subic, because 13 business locators here have proposed expansion projects in the first 6 months,” she added.

These expansion projects are worth R276 million and will generate 286 new job opportunities.

SBMA Deputy Administrator for Business and Investment Kenneth Rementilla said that the biggest company that recently inked a deal with SBMA was the Citic Hotels and Leisure Corporation, which owns the five-star Wyndham Hotel chain.

He added that the project proposal is worth R1.34 billion and is expected to generate 2,000 jobs.

The second biggest new project