CLARK FREEPORT — The recent move of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) to adopt a firmer set of policies in managing the affairs of this freeport appears to have paid off.
Primarily, CDC has recovered some 28.32 hectares of land that were leased years back to non-performing locators but had remained undeveloped in violation of their lease contracts.
CDC had registered an improvement in its cash position this year at P2 billion compared to the preceding year’s figure of P1.8 billion, according to the records of the government owned and controlled corporation.
It also managed to revive some $177.77-million worth of projects in terms of committed investment by 10 locators that saw the launching of startup development work beginning this year on some 236.55 hectares.
When completed, the said projects are expected to generate some 5,000 job opportunities in the next five years. This figure does not include the expected 75,235 jobs to be generated in the same five-year period by the Singapore- based Capillon PTE, one of the 12 locators that signed up with CDC early this year.
CDC officials traced the positive developments at here to the management initiatives of its president and CEO Arthur P. Tugade that on the whole spurred interest among prospective and current locators to deliver on their investment commitments.
Among these initiatives is the major shift in CDC’s posture from a regulatory outfit to one out to enhance business as reflected by its decision to extend from one year to three years the certificate of registration and tax exemption (CoRTE) granted to qualified locators, as well as the faster processing of documents.
The rest of the changes adopted by the CDC management to attract more business to the zone are the following: The adoption of a set of clear steps in vetting prospective locators as to their proposed business activities and required input importation; The strict monitoring of locators’ commitments and timelines on the execution/implementation of their projects; The implementation of a program that automated CDC’s activities in such areas as processing of locators’ documents, including the installation of CCTVsto secure the zone and its clients; and A set timeline for the recovery of lands and revival of deferred projects of locators.
In a prepared report, CDC said it managed to collect this year some P200 million worth of arrears of a casino operator here. (The company was not named, but sources identified it as the Oxford Casino, now under the management of a group of Chinese investors).
The number of direct leases it signed with locators as of last June this totaled 12, which entailed $51.76 million in committed investments. In the same period, the CDC management team convinced three locators to either revive their projects or surrender contracts they earlier bagged from CDC.
Sub-leases registered reached 178, which involved some $43.22 million in committed investments and 6,310 in committed employment opportunities.
