ANGELES CITY — The Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) has posted the highest investments growth rate among investment promotion agencies (IPA) in the country, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said.
The 1,691-hectare Freeport of Bataan (FAB), located in Mariveles town, has even surpassed the seven other big IPAs in the country, including the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) in growth rate from 2011 to 2012, the NSCB reported.
It noted that “while other IPAs were suffering from millions in setback, AFAB posted a 354.2 percent growth rate due to an enormous leap in its foreign investments from P86 million in 2011 to P390 million last year.”
“AFAB registered the highest increase, expanding by more than four times the P86 million approved [foreign investments] in 2011,” said the NSCB.
It noted that Central Luzon’s two other bigger freeport zones under the CDC in Pampanga and the SBMA in Zambales incurred double-digit declines of 76 percent and 96 percent, respectively.
“Thousands of jobs are seen to pour in Bataan as companies of different industries, particularly manufacturing and shipbuilding, come in. AFAB recorded the highest increase in projected employment at 136 percent from 585 jobs in 2011 to 1,385 jobs last year,” the NSCB said.
FAB hosts more than 70 locators that engage in the manufacturing of electronics, garments and textiles, leather luggage, handbags and footwear, fiberglass, furniture and fixtures, rubber and plastic products, and chemicals and chemical derivatives.
AFAB Chairman Deogracias Custodio said “FAB overshot its target for 2011 and 2012, and is now looking at a more robust development in 2013. We intend to equal, if not surpass, what we have achieved last year.”
At the same time, the NSCB said the manufacturing sector has remained the top industry in the country with P136.8 billion worth of investment pledges or 59.4 percent of the total.
The top three investing countries for 2012 were Netherlands, Japan and the United States, it also said.
