SUBIC BAY FREEPROT – Korean shipbuilding industry leader Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction- Philippines, Inc. (HHIC-Phil, Inc.) announced that it will hire thousands of workers to its shipyard here this year.
Since its first vessel delivery in 2008, Hanjin has accumulated worth P125-billion in annual export sales at the end of 2011, making the company the consistent top exporter in the country’s premier freeport.
Jin Kyu Ahn, president of the Hanjin, said that their recent vessel deliveries highlighted the competitiveness of HHIC-Phil’s Subic shipyard which produced the state-of-the-art commercial vessels.
The vessels, namely: M/T Brightway, a DWT 160,000 Crude Oil Tanker ordered by a Liberian company Modmal Shipping Limited and M/V FMG Matilda, a DWT 205,000 Bulk Carrier owned by Bocimar Hong Kong Ltd. based in Belgium. Both ship owners are engaged in international shipping and maritime solutions.
Ahn said that as operations in the Subic shipyard expand, “we will require more employees to join the Hanjin workforce, creating employment opportunities for residents in the surrounding area of the freeport zone, including the provinces of Bataan, Zambales, and the city of Olongapo”.
Ahn said that, once targets for ship orders are reached this year, Hanjin could add over 10,000 workers which “would clearly benefit the Philippine economy, and bring opportunities to Filipino entrepreneurs and skilled workers, and much needed revenue to the Philippine government”.
Since 2006, HHIC-Phil has operated two state-of-the-art Skill Development Centers – one located at SBFZ’s Industrial Park and other in Cagayan de Oro City to fully equip Hanjin Filipino workforce with skills in shipbuilding, which has enabled its workforce to attain global competitiveness.
These training facilities, which serve as the catalyst for developing skills required in the shipyard, have already mentored more than 30,000 trainees and will continue to hone and develop Hanjin’s workforce to keep them globally competitive, Ahn said.
To date, Hanjin’s Subic shipyard currently employs nearly 20,000 local employees and continues to generate more indirect job and business opportunities in the surrounding communities.
Maximizing its assets and capabilities, President Ahn said that the presence of the Subic shipyard at the Freeport has been positively contributing to the growth of the Philippine economy since 2006 and will continue to make significant contributions in the Philippine maritime industry in the years ahead.
The Philippines currently ranks as the world’s 4th largest shipbuilding countries as per record of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), an agency under the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
Ahn said that the presence of the Subic shipyard at the Freeport has been positively contributing to the growth of the Philippine economy since 2006 and will continue to make significant contribution in the Philippine maritime industry in the years ahead.
